Finding Life
by DawnToSunset
Summary: Peace. That was what Molly needed and that was why she came to Castanet. Leaving her old life behind, now she's searching for a new one unaware of how important her presence will be on the island not only for it's health but the people around her, especially for a certain few young men. Can she find peace or will her life turn chaotic? And who will be the one to turn it around?
1. Chapter 1 New Direction

**Chapter 1  
New Direction**

Of new blooms, once fated

Feelings of change, now abated

I leave to renew.

Memories gray and faded

The flower blooms, elated

And change grew.

* * *

A young woman with short brown hair sat on the edge of her bed, staring around her room with a faraway look on her face. As she looked around she couldn't help but remember all of the good times she and her older sister, Angela, had had together in that same room. Every piece of furniture held a different story. There was the dresser where, under the first drawer, she had kept all of the love letters she never sent to her childhood crush. She had been teased for months and months after Angela had found them by accident. Behind her Japanese dressing screen was a hole in the wall, about three inches in diameter from the time Angela had tripped and smashed her elbow into the wall. She reached up and touched the bottom of the top bunk, always her sister's because Angela was eldest. Molly laughed to herself quietly; all of the tantrums she would throw because of it when she was younger seemed like forever ago. _And so pointless too…_

After Angela had moved out she told Molly she could have the top bunk, but Molly never did move. It hadn't mattered anymore. She closed her eyes. Angela was two years older than her and had moved out with her husband when Molly was eighteen. It was a year later when Angela had moved back home, devastated over the premature death of her husband. When Angela had moved back for those few months things had been different between them, she was no longer the easygoing carefree older sister she had grown up with. She understood why though; losing a husband wasn't a small matter. Some nights, when Angela had thought she was already asleep, Molly heard her trying to stifle the sobs she couldn't keep from racking her body.

The room, even though it was full of happy memories, no longer served as a symbol of their happy childhood. Instead, she couldn't look at it without thinking of the slow break down of their family. Everything that she laid eyes on in their house made her think of how her family had split. This was why she needed to get out. Her sister had found a new life as a farmer, a good one from the sound of it and now it was her time to go.

Every time she talked to Angela she wouldn't stop talking about how peaceful the village she moved to was and how supportive everyone is. She only hoped that her experience would be just as enjoyable and peaceful. That was what she needed now. Peace; so that she could find her happiness and hopefully drown out the bad with some good hard work. _And_, she thought, _I could work on my poetry_.

Molly, now twenty, had just finished her fifth semester at college, so she'd been going for two and a half years. With a major in Creative Writing and a minor in Art, going to run a farm was a pretty drastic change in direction. She didn't know much about farming, having lived close to the city her entire life, but her grandpa had owned a farm when he was still living and she had often helped care for the crops and animals when she was younger. It wasn't that she was disinterested in farming, but her true talent laid in writing and art. But she had figured that her dream was to write lots of books and create inspirational art and both of these things she could do without a degree. So, she didn't enroll in classes for the spring and instead bought a small farm on a remote island not too far away from the shore.

In all honesty, she was a little sad about moving away from her friends and family but she would also miss going to class. Molly liked college, she liked learning. But…it didn't help, not permanently at least. She needed to change her life, to get away from this lonely feeling that was always creeping up behind her. Molly put a hand to her chest over her heart. Whenever she thought about what was missing from her life she sometimes believed that if she could feel her heart she could feel the hole too. She didn't know what was missing exactly, or how to find it, but in her gut she knew that this change of direction was right.

_Maybe what you're missing is love_ whispered a small voice in her head. She immediately tensed up. What was she thinking; she gave that up a long time ago. It was impossible. Love couldn't make everything better, just look at where it got their family and Angela too…

It seemed as though everywhere around her love failed, in one form or another. Angela, even though she and her husband were very much in love, ended up getting her heart broken because he died. It just goes to show that even love isn't enough to keep someone by your side; they'll just have to leave eventually. Molly's parents too, they had loved each other but it wasn't enough to keep them together either. She scrunched her eyes close; the memory of her father walking out the door was still fresh in her heart. How many years has it been since he left their family? Four? Sometimes when she woke up in the morning she still expected to smell her dad's special pancakes steaming on the kitchen table.

It wasn't fair. Love was just an illusion, true love at least. If love couldn't keep Angela's husband from dying or her parents from splitting up then what good was it? She didn't need love. All she needed was her family, friends and a job to support her. This sort of life she would be content with and Molly was determined to find it tomorrow when she set sail to the small island of Castanet, about thirty miles from the city's shore.

Molly sighed and laid down on the soft blanket that covered her bed. She watched as the sun's rays inched their way down her light green walls, tinted orange from the sunset. She yawned and held her hands up making them orange along with the rest of her room. She could feel the sunset on her skin, today it was reminiscent of the end of a movie. Everything was coming to an end and now it was time to move on to the sequel. Molly closed her eyes, listening to the slow rhythmic sound of the clock, ticking away on the wall. Slowly, she fell asleep.

pgbr

Green, it was everywhere around her. Trees, bushes, grass, plants; they were everywhere. This wasn't the city, at least not anyplace she knew of. But strangely her vision was blurred, she couldn't focus on anything. Blinking didn't help; neither did rubbing her eyes so Molly gave up, thinking it would fix itself in time. Her body felt light too, very light in fact. As soon as she thought to move her arm it was already in a different position. _What was this?_

"Molly, you must help me."

Molly quickly turned in the direction of the voice but was unable see anything.

"Who's there?" She asked.

"I am the Harvest Goddess, I watch over this land. But, this land is slowly dying and I need your help to give it life. You must help me; you are the only one who can make this land prosper."

Molly was dumbstruck. Was she dreaming? It made sense, all of these weird things with her body and unknown voices. But at the same time, it felt too real to be a dream. Should she go along with it? Even though she was nervous and scared, she didn't feel as if she was in danger.

"W-why are you asking? And why can't I see you?" she said, attempting to keep her voice straight so as not to give away how nervous she was.

"You cannot see me because you have yet to set foot on my land. I can only communicate with you through your dreams. I have attempted many times, but this is the first time that I am able to talk to you directly," said the voice.

Molly didn't know what to think. After giving it some thought she did remember having weird dreams before. She couldn't remember much, a lot of greens and blues shifting around, kind of like the ocean. And a voice…maybe it was the same as this one? But there were times where it was different, like a child's voice. But that wasn't what was troubling her the most.

"If you're somewhere else, how are you able to communicate with me through my dreams? How is this even possible?"

The voice laughed softly. It struck Molly how beautiful it was. She often heard people compare a woman's voice to the chiming of bells but this was the first time she understood what they really meant. Her laugh reminded her of the tiny wind chime she put outside her window in the summer time. She took in a deep breath, pretending to inhale the wind that would have blown in through her window.

"I am able to make this possible because I am the Harvest Goddess. It is within my capabilities to communicate through dreams; it isn't an uncommon skill. There are many with this ability."

"I've never heard of anyone like that…at least not anyone real," Molly mumbled. The Harvest Goddess laughed again.

"Soon you will not think that any longer. But, I must hurry; you are going to wake soon. Molly, tomorrow you will meet one of my helpers, a harvest sprite named Finn. He will bring you to me and I will explain your job. But before then, you must promise me that you will help in any way that you can."

"But…well what is this job? I'm going to start my life as a farmer tomorrow; I don't think I can do any more than that, I'll be really busy," Molly said feeling troubled. Why did this Harvest Goddess, who can talk to people through dreams and probably do many other incredible things, need her help?

"I know what you must be thinking, but I cannot do this by myself. I need you Molly, please, this island's health depends on you."

Now an entire island needed her help? She didn't see how she could do anything like that by herself, not to mention along with running a farm. _But, she said I was the only one who could help…_

"What…what do I need to do?" Molly asked tentatively.

"It is not so much as what you are thinking; Finn will be there to help you, as will the other sprites once they are found. I would never give an impossible task, Molly, please understand. I will explain everything once you get here but first; you need to promise."

Molly hesitated. What did she really know about this person or Goddess or whomever anyways? What if this was a trap or too much trouble? She wasn't looking for trouble; she just wanted a peaceful life. _But_, she thought, putting her hand over her heart, _this feels like the right thing to do_.

Steeling herself, she answered.

"Yes I promise I will help you…Harvest Goddess." She couldn't believe she had agreed so easily, but it felt like something, some mystical force was guiding her. Maybe she was going crazy?

"Thank you. Thank you Molly," said the voice much closer this time. Warmth started to spread throughout her body, as if someone was holding her tightly. Molly blushed. Was the Harvest Goddess dream hugging her? What a silly thought.

"I am leaving now; soon you will awake and then take the boat to the island. I will be here waiting for you, Finn as well. Take care, and do not worry, everything will turn out fine," said the Harvest Goddess, her voice fading as well as the scenery around her. Soon, Molly was staring at the bottom of the top bunk back in her bedroom. She looked over at the clock on the wall. 5:30 a.m.

Molly stretched out and had a bit of trouble sitting up because her body was so heavy. It was no wonder she felt so sluggish, she had slept over eleven hours. She reflected on the strange dream for a few minutes before her stomach growled loudly and she realized she never ate dinner last night so, dragging herself to the kitchen; she poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table to eat. A noise in the hall startled her but it was just her mom having just got up herself.

"Molly, you're up this early? Your boat doesn't leave until eight, is everything okay?" Her mom asked, popping some bread into the toaster.

"Mmm, I fell asleep really early yesterday so…" Molly said, taking a bite of cereal.

"So that's it. When I came home last night I thought something was strange when I didn't see you in front of the T.V."

Molly 'hmphed' and pursed her lips, "I'm not always in front of the T.V., only at night." Molly's mom worked late and since she usually had morning classes she didn't get to see her until at least 9 p.m. on most nights. If she had the T.V. on her mom would usually join her and they would talk during the commercials.

"Well it's too bad you fell asleep so early, now I only have a couple of hours before I have to watch you leave," she said buttering her toast, back to Molly.

Molly felt a surge of guilt. First her father walked out, then Angela moved away, and now she's moving out too. Her mom will be all by herself in this small empty house.

Sensing her feelings Molly's mom smiled sadly and came up to hug her from behind, leaning over the chair.

"Don't worry honey, I'll be fine. After all, I have Fortis here to protect me," she said referring to the brown tabby they had found hidden in an alley last year. Molly chuckled.

"I guess I don't have to worry as long as you have a cat to protect you."

Her mom smiled. "See? Everything will be fine. You can't stay here forever."

Molly finished off her cereal and rinsed out the bowl in the sink. She thought so too but…

"I'll still miss you," Molly said. She could tell right away that her mom was about to tear up so she hurriedly excused herself and started getting ready. She didn't want to see her mom cry; she couldn't handle it when other people cried because she would always start crying herself.

A couple hours later she had everything packed and was standing by the door, waiting for her mom.

"Mom! Hurry up, it's already 7:30 and it takes me fifteen minutes to get down to the dock!" Molly yelled.

"I know, I know, I'm coming!" said her mom, her voice getting louder as she walked into the room. She stood in front of Molly, the early morning sun making her face glow as it filtered in through the front window. Her mom was only a couple inches taller than her, same reddish brown hair as she had. Her mom had always been pretty but now her face was starting to show not only her age but the stress load she had to deal with working so many hours. It wasn't fair that her mom had to work so hard, but now that she didn't have to pay for Molly's college classes, things should get a little bit easier.

"Alright, I'm going to head out now," said Molly, setting her luggage down so she could hug her mom. They held each other tightly, putting all that they couldn't say into the hug. They stayed like that for a minute before Molly backed away.

"Make sure you come back for holidays, okay?"

"Of course…I'll see you soon. I love you, mom."

Her mom smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you too, Molly. Take care and be safe!"

"I will. Bye!" Molly said, backing out the door with her luggage. After putting it in the trunk of her car, she backed out of the driveway and paused before driving away. She was finally moving out…even though it wasn't all happy memories she still loved their house and felt a twinge of sadness as she drove away.

Parking her car and dragging her luggage behind her, Molly hurried over to the dock and paid for a one-way ticket to Castanet. There weren't many people around, and even though it was the first day of spring the air was pretty chilly. When she breathed out of her mouth she could see her breath fog up in front of her. Rubbing her hands together she looked around for the boat the person at the counter had described to her. It was a small blue boat with large white letters that spelled out the words "The Harp Boat" on the side and after searching for a bit she spotted it between two large sail boats.

Walking up to it she noticed an older man with gray hair wearing a captain's hat leaning against the ramp that led up to the boat's deck. She slowly approached the man until she was in front of him. He looked up and she noticed that his eyes were the same exact color as his hair.

"Uhm, hello, my name is Molly and I'm taking this boat to Castanet. Are you the captain?"

The man took a moment before he straightened up and held out his hand. "Hello there Molly, I'm Pascal and yes, I'm the captain of this boat. I'm glad I'll have some company today."

She shook his hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Pascal; do you not often have people ride your boat?"

"Usually it's just the people who deliver different sorts of resources to the island and the occasional tourist. But, not many people want to travel to the island when it's this cold out. Speaking of which, are you the farmer that's taking over the old abandoned farm?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, I am," she said, raising her eyebrows in surprise. Was it that obvious?

Pascal chuckled. "You're already big news on the island, it's not often we get someone who wants to move out there permanently. The islands not doing too well right now but I hope you'll find everything well. It really is a very, very nice place to live."

Molly nodded. "Yes, I've heard it was. I'm sure everything will be great, I've been really looking forward to it."

Pascal smiled and stared at her for a few seconds, perhaps wondering if she was being sincere about it. Apparently deciding that she was, he picked up her luggage and started to climb the ramp.

"Oh, I can carry that, they're not that heavy," Molly said, following him up the ramp.

"Nonsense. How could I let a girl carry bags when I'm here to do it for her? It'd be rude of me not to."

Molly blushed. People in the city usually weren't this nice. "Thank you very much."

Pascal just nodded his head in response. She followed him to the captain's room where he set her luggage down, right next to the door.

"Since no one else is riding you're free to spend your time in here," he said starting to prepare the boat to leave.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it, but I think I'll go check out the deck first," Molly said, opening the door.

"That'd be just as well. If you get cold you can just come right up. We'll be leaving in a couple of minutes."

"Alright," Molly said, making her way outside. She stepped out onto the deck and looked around. The waters were calm and shining with the sun's light. It really was very pretty. _But dangerous_, Molly thought. Very dangerous.

She breathed in the ocean air and felt the light breeze tussle her hair around. She reached up and held her bangs out of her face as she watched a seagull fly slowly above her head. The horn from the boat sounded loudly behind her and signaled its start. She felt the boat slowly take off below her feet and held onto the railing as she moved further away from shore.

Soon the city was just a bunch of blurry lines behind her and all she could see was the water and the sky, merging together at the horizon. Soon she would reach Castanet and her new life. Soon, she could be at peace. Peace.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hello! So, this is the re-written At the End of the Day, which I had started, realized it was crap, didn't have a plan and ended up scrapping it. I would really love some reviews, they always make my day and encourage me to write more. So, please R&R and support me and this story. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2 To New Discoveries

**Chapter 2**

**To New Discoveries**

I wanted to hope

Along with all of the other fools.

Those people that lived their lives

In such a disorganized way.

I saw them everywhere

And swiftly looked away.

* * *

The boat pulled into shore and docked itself in the tiny harbor. The island really was small Molly noticed, she had no problem seeing the entire thing from only a mile out from its shores. The early morning sun was casting a gentle haze over everything and in some places she could still see small amounts of fog hanging onto the ground.

Pascal was right. It was beautiful. Taking a swift glance around before getting off of the boat she noticed a lighthouse and a small beach to her left and what looked to be a small fishery right next to the dock. To her right was the entire town, houses stacked onto each other reminding her of Grecian style homes, but instead of all white, these were painted all sorts of different colors.

Molly was met with a sea of pastels, but she knew that once the afternoon light hit the houses' facades' they would shine with bright blues, pinks and yellows. As she left the boat and made her first step onto the island a church bell rang in the distance, signaling that it was 9:00 am.

She smiled and accepted her luggage from Pascal thanking him and started to make her way towards town. But, no sooner than she had taken her first step a bright light appeared in front of her face, temporarily blinding her. Molly gave out a gasp of fright and stumbled backwards. The light began to take shape and there, hovering three feet away from her face, was a small fairy looking thing in bright orange clothes. Molly gaped and blinked a couple of times.

"Hello! My name is Finn and it's really nice to finally meet you! I've seen you through your dreams, but it's always been kind of hazy and you could never see me, but you heard me a couple times before, right? Well anyways, I'm so glad you're finally here! Hey, hey, what's wrong, you don't look too well. Are you cold? Sea sick?"

He fluttered around, suddenly worried and started moving closer to her. Molly took a step back and held up her hands as if to swat him away. Molly was so surprised that she was barely taking in anything that he was saying.

"Hey, Molly? You know who I am right? Remember, the Harvest Goddess said that once you got here she'd send me to help you. I'm a Harvest Sprite!"

Molly swallowed nervously and looked around. No one was near her so she decided it was okay to talk to this thing without looking crazy. Even if she felt it.

"Um…you're a Harvest Sprite?" She asked tentatively.

Finn nodded enthusiastically.

"And…can other people see you?"

Finn shook his head. "Nope, just you and the Harvest Goddess. Well and the other Harvest Sprites. And the Harvest King, but he's not around. Oh! And the Wizard. I forgot about him."

Molly held her head, feeling dizzy. It didn't help that he was talking so fast either. Finn, seeing this motion hesitantly hovered closer.

"Molly? Are you okay?"

Molly laughed even though she didn't feel the situation was very humorous at all.

"It's just…a big shock."

Finn nodded knowingly. The Harvest Goddess had warned him she might act like this. He didn't see what the big deal was, there were Harvest Sprites in other parts of the world too, but he guessed everyone didn't know that.

"Sorry. Can I do something to help?"

"No, just…just give me a second," Molly said, slowly shaking her head. She had to get it together, the Harvest Goddess did say he was going to meet her here but until now none of it had seemed real. Seeing Finn was like a slap in the face, a reality check. The island really was in need of her help and he was the proof. She sighed and cautiously moved towards him. Finn stayed still and cocked his head to the side, wondering what she was going to do.

"Is it…alright if I touch you or something? To make sure you're real?" Molly asked, feeling stupid. But, she had to do this to convince herself he was real and she wasn't just going crazy.

Finn shrugged and gave the ok.

She prodded his stomach and quickly withdrew her hand. He really was real!

Finn giggled. "Are you okay now?"

Molly laughed in disbelief. Harvest Sprites really did exist and so did magical Harvest Goddess's that needed her help.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

Finn smiled. "Good! Now we can go to see the Harvest Goddess!"

"Woah, woah, woah," Molly said, holding up her hands. "We're not doing anything until I talk to the Mayor and get settled in my house."

"But Molly this is really important!"

"I know but I still have my luggage, and I NEED to talk to the Mayor, I have a responsibility as a resident, you know? And anyways, I doubt this island is going to blow up if we wait a few more hours."

Finn threw his hands up in mild frustration, "Fine, I guess that's okay, but RIGHT after, okay?"

Molly just nodded, not paying much attention. She was already starting to think about what it was she needed to get done before the end of the day. She secured her backpack more firmly on her back and heaved up her luggage, heading, once again, towards town.

As she passed the fishery, a small boy stepped out of the front door holding what seemed to be a pail full of fish and almost ran into her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I should have been more careful," said the little boy, setting the pail down and politely bowing his head. Molly quickly inclined her head back. _What a well-mannered little boy_, she thought.

"No, that's alright, I shouldn't have been in the way."

The little boy looked up from under his hat and cocked his head to the side.

"Wait, I haven't seen you around here before, are you the new farmer everyone's been talking about?"

Oh, so everyone really was talking about her. This made her a bit uncomfortable, she never really liked being in the spotlight, but it was understandable. This was such a small island after all, not many people were here to make up the community and one new addition was probably a big deal. She would just have to be patient, after a little while the attention will surely die down.

"Yes, I am. My name is Molly, and you are?" She asked, holding out her hand.

"I'm Paolo, my dad runs the fishery here and my cousin Toby helps us out too," Paolo said, reaching up and gently shaking her hand in greeting.

"It's very nice to meet you Paolo. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, but right now I need to get my luggage to my home, so if you'll excuse me…" Molly trailed off, taking hold of her luggage again.

"Oh right. Well, I'll see you again. Sometime you should come fishing with me and Toby!" he said, flashing her a smile.

She smiled in return. What a cute kid.

"Well alright, but I've never been fishing so you guys will have to teach me, okay?"

"Of course! It's a promise!" Paolo exclaimed picking up his pail and heading towards the back of the building.

Molly chuckled and turned back towards the town…what had she gotten herself into? _Oh well, it'll be okay_, she thought. She walked up the steps and started to make her way to the town hall which she recognized from the brochure she was sent before. Knocking before entering, she slowly opened the door and saw an obviously short man with a very strange haircut sitting behind the desk. In front of the desk was a man that couldn't be any more different. He was very tall and muscular with a full head of hair and a face that looked as if it was constantly smiling.

Both turned in her direction as she opened the door and the shorter one quickly bounced off of his chair and made his way over.

"Molly! I'm so glad you made it alright, did you have trouble finding the building?" He asked, shaking her hand vigorously.

"No, not at all," Molly said in return, her voice vibrating a little from the rapid movement of her entire arm. This must be the mayor, she thought, recognizing his voice from when they had spoken on the phone.

"Good, good. I'm Mayor Hamilton and this is Cain," the Mayor said motioning to the other man who stood towering behind him, "he's the owner of Horn Ranch and will be providing you with your animals. If you ever have any questions about animal care, he's the one to ask."

Cain smiled and said a short "How d'ya do?" bowing his head a bit.

Molly bowed back politely.

"Well! Let's gather up that baggage and get you settled in!" said the Mayor, clapping his hands and handing her luggage to Cain.

"Oh! I can carry that, you don't have to go through the trouble," said Molly, reaching for her bags. It was nice of them but she couldn't expect someone to carry her luggage the entire way to her house. She didn't even know how far away it was. It could be over a mile!

"Don't worry, don't worry," said the Mayer, shooing her out the door, "Cain brought his wagon so we'll just ride over in that."

"Oh." A wagon? This really was a remote island, wasn't it? And she couldn't believe the Mayor was going to ride with them. How bizarre.

On the way to her farm, which wasn't quite a mile away, they engaged in small talk. She found out the Mayor had a son named Gill who was currently taking the last classes he needed to take before he could graduate at the same college that she went to: East Shore University. Molly racked her brain to try and remember if she had ever heard of a Gill in any of her classes but she couldn't. But, it wasn't that surprising, he was going for business and wouldn't have had any of the same classes, not even the general ones since he was a year older and would have been a year ahead when she entered college.

She also found out that Cain had a wife and a daughter who both helped him out at the ranch. Renee, his daughter, was only a year younger than her and never went to college. Molly was glad to hear that there were others her age on the island. When she voiced this worry aloud both the Mayor and Cain assured her that there were plenty of "youngsters" on the island.

Soon they arrived at her farm and they helped her move her luggage into the house which was already furnished with a bed, a tool box, a table and a small kitchen. It wasn't much, but for 5,000G it was basically a steal. _And, I can always buy more furniture once I save up the money_, she thought.

With lots of well-wishing and more cheerful shakings of her hand, the Mayor and Cain both left to leave her to her own devices, for which she was grateful. Now she needed to unpack and get situated before heading back into town where she would go to each store and introduce herself, at the Mayor's wishes. Although, she conceded, she would have anyways if he hadn't of mentioned it to her. But at least this way everyone was already expecting her.

She sighed and moved to sit down on her bed. She plopped down and was pleased to find her mattress very comfortable. Molly looked around her new house, all one room until she could upgrade. _Open concept_, she thought to herself, smiling. The floors were hardwood and, actually, she thought looking closely, everything was pretty much wooden except for her kitchen countertop. The wallpaper was just as monotonous, brown with a small pattern repeating throughout.

"What do you think of your new house, Molly?" said Finn, who had, until now, been keeping respectively quiet.

"It's…a house," she said, not really knowing how to respond. Finn nodded as if he knew what she was thinking.

She sniffed and some dust got sucked into her nose as she breathed in the stale air. Sneezing, Molly walked over to the window and threw open the curtains, letting light illuminate the inside of her house. She opened the window with some difficulty and breathed in the crisp fresh air. The air in the city never smelled as good as the air here did and Molly stood by the window for some time before opening the other windows and starting to clean.

Cleaning everything took quite a while, even with Finn helping, and it was already noon before they finally finished. She changed out of her dirty clothes into something a bit more appropriate for first impressions and headed to town, locking her door as she went.

She took out the map she had received from the Mayor and memorized it on her walk to town. It took about ten minutes to reach town walking slowly and as she got closer she noticed a small beach right off of the path. She smiled happily, glad that there were so many beaches and especially glad that there was one that was a bit more private. The biggest one in town was used for festivals and she figured that there were people, tourists included, who used it a lot.

"Hey, Finn, are there other small beaches like that one?" she asked, pointing to her left.

"Yeah, there's another one that's closer to your farm actually. But other than that, the only other beach is in town. Why, do you like beaches?"

"Yeah, but the beach where I lived before was always really crowded so I didn't go often. But, I'm glad that I can here, beaches are nice." Molly said.

Finn agreed and started talking about wanting to go and make lots of sand castles this summer. Soon they were in town and before they got too far, Molly stopped Finn and asked him if he could stay quiet while she made her introductions.

"But Molly, no one can hear me."

"I know," she said, "but you'll distract me if you keep talking so loudly."

"Well…okay I guess. I promise I won't say a word!" Finn said, pretending to zip up his lips.

"You don't have be mute, just talk quietly please," Molly said, making an apologetic expression. She felt bad asking someone to do this but if he commented on everything while she was trying to talk to the villagers she wouldn't be able to keep the conversations straight.

They slowly made their way throughout town stopping at Simon's Photos, Sonata Tailoring and the Brass Bar where she had some juice and listened to Kathy and her father Hayden talk about the island. From what they said, as well as Simon and Shelly and Candace, the island was in really bad shape. The same sentiments were repeated as she visited the Fishery, the Ocarina Inn and the Choral Clinic.

Now Molly was really starting to get worried. The wind wasn't strong, neither was the water. The land wasn't fertile, something was wrong with the fire and everything was affecting everyone's feelings as well. She didn't think everyone looked depressed but there was a definite tinge of sadness in their features.

She tried knocking at the Wizard's place but figured he wasn't in because no one answered, so she made her way up to the church instead. As she reached the top step she found herself needing to stop to take it all in. The courtyard was beautiful with the church as its main feature. It stood out magnificently against the blue sky, piercing the light.

It was a simple white with gorgeous glass-stained windows shining in the afternoon sun. Molly used to go to church when she was smaller but it wasn't nearly as great as this one, just a small brick building beyond the city's limits.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said a voice to her left. Molly started and lost her footing, falling backwards. Before she was even aware of what was happening, she felt a hand shoot around her waist and roughly pull her upright again.

"Geez, how clumsy are you? You could've died, stupid."

Molly blinked and looked up into the face of a guy who looked to be around her age with strawberry blonde hair, leaning more towards the strawberry shade. She would have thought he looked bored if his eyebrows hadn't been angled downwards in an angry fashion.

"Hey, are you alright?" he said, his eyebrows turning up in mild concern now. Molly came to her senses and suddenly blushed, realizing that he was still holding her around the waist.

Noticing this, he let go and took a step backwards, unfazed even though Molly was positive her face was getting redder by the second.

"Y-yeah, sorry. Thanks for…catching me," she said, trying to make her blush go away.

He shrugged. "No problem. I guess it was my fault anyways…sorry for startling you."

Molly relaxed, her face color returning to normal. "It's okay; I just didn't know there was anyone around."

"Right," said the man, putting his hand on his waist. Molly would've thought this was a weird thing for a man to do if he hadn't looked so natural doing it. "So…who are you?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, my name is Molly and I'm – "

" – the new farmer?" he finished for her.

"Um, yes, that's right," she said back.

He looked at her for a few seconds before introducing himself.

"I'm Chase. I work at the Brass Bar," he said. Molly nodded and they stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds before she motioned towards the church.

"Well, I'm going to go, I still need to see to the church so…" she said, slowly moving away.

"Okay. Bye." He said and started walking down the stairs.

"…Bye," Molly said. He kept walking and didn't look back again. As soon as he was safely out of earshot she turned to Finn.

"He was kind of rude, wasn't he?"

Finn shrugged. "I think he's always like that."

"Huh," was all she said and she walked into the church to meet Perry.

After another short conversation, which included the degenerating condition of the island, Molly started to make her way back to her house. It was starting to get dark and as they walked Finn and she discussed the people that she had met that day. In general she liked everyone and thought that it would be nice if she could befriend them all.

"You've been here longer than I have, so what do you think? Is everyone really nice?" she asked Finn.

"Actually, I haven't been here that long. Only about a month or two."

"What?" Molly asked, confused. "I thought that you and the other Harvest Sprites have been around for almost as long as the Goddess."

"Well, I'm the sixth Harvest Sprite and the youngest; I was born when the Harvest Goddess found you since I'm really only around to help in the search for the bells…" Finn said, dejectedly.

Molly, noticing that this was a touchy subject, decided to change it. "What are the bells?"

"The bells are the instruments through which the Sprites play their songs to give life to the island."

"Oh, I see," said Molly even though she didn't have any idea what he meant by that.

"Yup! It's our job to find the bells so the Harvest Sprites can ring them and play their songs," said Finn, talking quickly as he got more excited.

"That doesn't sound too difficult," said Molly, brightening a bit. If all she had to do was find some bells then that shouldn't be too hard, right?

"Yeah, we can do it!" Finn said, doing a somersault in mid-air.

Molly laughed and complimented him on his gymnastic skills, feeling considerably happier as she entered her house compared to when she left it. And it was with a light heart that Molly settled into bed after eating some dinner, unaware of what the task of the bells really meant and just how hard it would be to accomplish it.

* * *

**Hi again! So this was pretty long wasn't it? I was surprised myself when I was done writing. If you prefer shorter chapters feel free to say so and I can scale back a bit. Thanks for reading!  
Gyarii- Thanks for the review and for pointing that out! I went back and fixed it right away; please continue to tell me if I make more typos :)  
Lyssaxleighx – Angela is wherever, it's not too important, we can pretend that she's in Waffle Town haha. **


	3. Chapter 3 And So, It Began

**Chapter 3**

**And So It Began**

To me you weren't just a human

You were a beast

So much so that I was afraid

Of being devoured

I am no beast

I am no human

I live separate so that

You cannot touch me

* * *

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT!"

Molly shot up in bed, hastily looking around for the source of the noise and was confused for a moment when she realized she wasn't in her bottom bunk at home. _Oh yeah, I'm on Castanet now_, she thought to herself. It was odd because she was just dreaming of eating ice cream sandwiches with her sister on the back porch and when she woke up the image of her small backyard was still visible in her mind. But, it was her small wooden room that was in front of her now and also something small, orange and frantic that was waving his hands all over the place in a panic.

"Finn? Finn. Finn!" She said, having to practically shout his name to get his attention.

He stopped flailing for a moment before flying over and almost running into her face. She stopped him with her hands and set him down in her lap, asking what he was so worked up about.

"I forgot, I forgot!" He shouted in despair, shaking his head.

"What did you forget?" Molly asked, getting a bit worried.

"I forgot to take you to the Harvest Goddess yesterday! It was my job and I didn't do it! I can't believe I forgot. I'm the most HORRIBLE Harvest Sprite ever!" He said, his eyes watering.

"Woah, woah, calm down okay? Look, it's fine; we were busy yesterday and didn't have time. We can always go today, can't we?"

"We HAVE to go today, no matter what! But it's not fine because we were supposed to go yesterday!"

"Was yesterday a special day or something?" Molly asked, confused.

"Yes, because you were to meet the Goddess," Finn responded.

"That's…well then if I go meet the Goddess today then won't today become special instead?"

Finn stared up at her and thought about it. "I guess…it would be."

Molly smiled and patted his head. "There, you see? All is not lost, we'll just go today."

"But…we were supposed to go yesterday…"

"Well, we can't go back in time so we'll just go today and everything will be fine, I'm sure the Harvest Goddess will forgive us for being a day late," Molly said exasperated.

"Of course she'll forgive us!"

"Then I really don't see what you're worrying about right now," she said, getting out of bed and going to the bathroom to get ready.

Finn pondered about what she said for a moment, decided Molly was right, and went to do his own business before they started the day.

After an hour or so they headed out the door and started for the Garmon Mine District where, according to Finn, the Harvest Goddess lived. While she was up there, Molly also planned on introducing herself to the residents that lived in that area since she didn't get to do it yesterday.

After crossing the bridge, she passed what seemed to be the carpenter's shop and went through an overgrown path in some woods. Just after she thought she'd never reach the end a small opening appeared a few meters ahead. What she saw almost took her breath away. There, in contrast to the dark woods behind them was a pond, or rather a pool, with the clearest water she'd ever seen and a stone path leading to a small area covered in flowers with a tree in the middle. And, as she and Finn made their way up the steps to the small clearing, she realized that a moat-like body of water surrounded the tree. Even though the rest of the island was still in its early spring stage, this place looked as if it was in the peak of the season already.

She wondered why only here the grass was so green and the water so pure rather than the rest of the island. She was just about to ask Finn when she realized he wasn't at her side anymore. Molly looked around and saw him floating in front of the tree which, upon closer inspection, didn't look as healthy as she first thought it to be. Its branches were few, leafless and had an air of dejection about them.

Finn turned around and motioned for her to come closer. She joined him in front of the tree and he began to speak.

"Harvest Goddess, I have brought the human that will lead this island to prosperity and request that you grace us with your presence and forgive our tardiness."

Molly began to get nervous hearing how formal Finn was being and began to fidget. Nothing happened at first but then she noticed the air around the tree started to get brighter until it was glowing with a white light. Then, a figure started to manifest in front of the tree and form into a solid image. Molly gasped and bowed low. She only got a glance but it was enough to see why the Goddess was so important. Long bluish green hair in twin braids, bright blue eyes that seemed to shine with the energy of the ocean and a face so kind and so loving that only a mother of all nature could have it. Pair it all with lovely transparent wings and you had a full-fledged goddess.

"You did a fine job my Finn, well done."

Finn beamed, happy he was praised.

"Raise your head Molly."

She slowly did as she was told and Molly's eyes locked with hers. In that moment she saw all of Earth and her goodness staring back at her. It was overwhelming.

"Do not be nervous, we are bonded by the same goal and from now on I will be relying on you, Molly, to help me restore this land to its previous state," said the Harvest Goddess, smiling down at her in a way a mother would to her child.

Molly blushed. She couldn't help but be nervous, a Goddess, a real Goddess, was standing in front of her. What was she supposed to say?

"I-I'm honored to be in your presence, Harvest Goddess," she said, not looking her in the eye.

The Goddess sighed. "I see that making you relax will not be so easy. And it is too bad because I rarely have any company other than the sprites and so wish to have a normal conversation…"

Molly blinked and looked up. Was the Harvest Goddess pouting?

"We deities might not be human but we are very similar in both appearance and mind. I live and breathe and feel just as you do Molly and I enjoy companionship in much the same way. Do you understand?"

Molly smiled and relaxed her stance. "Well, if you put it that way…"

The Harvest Goddess returned her smile and clapped her hands. "Now that we're past that, I'll explain your task in more detail now."

"Yes please, if you will," Molly said.

Molly intently listened as the Harvest Goddess explained and, although she had heard from the other villagers what was happening to the land, hearing it from the Goddess made her realize just how serious everything was. All of the elements were weakening drastically and unless she did something soon they would all go into poverty and be forced to move. The lives of so many people resting on her shoulders made her feel sick to her stomach and she had to sit down.

"Molly, what's wrong, you don't feel well?" asked Finn, coming to sit by her side.

"It's just…what if I fail?"

The Goddess glided over the ground and laid her hand on Molly's shoulder. Molly gasped and looked up into her eyes, her hand was full of warmth and her touch seemed to send energy throughout her entire body.

"You will not fail. You have Finn and I, as well as the villagers to support you. And you are strong Molly, we may have just met but I have seen your mind through your dreams and I have the utmost confidence in you. There is a reason that you were chosen, you just have to believe in yourself."

Molly took a deep breath, gaining strength through the Goddess' words. She was right, it will be hard work but…she could do it. She knew she could.

"Yes, you're right. I'm not alone," Molly said, standing up again.

Finn shouted in glee and spun around. Molly giggled and the Harvest Goddess took Finn and wrapped her arms around him.

"I am glad you feel that way. Now, I have told you all that you need to know, so now you must go and find Alan's bell so that you can begin the process. I look forward to seeing you again," said the Goddess, letting go of Finn and watching him fly back to land on Molly's shoulder.

Molly smiled and said goodbye, going back through the woods and ending up next to the Carpenter's shop again.

"That wasn't so bad. The Harvest Goddess is really kind, isn't she Finn?" Molly said, basking in her own wonderment of the Goddess.

"Of course she is! She's the best Goddess ever!" Finn said, spinning around again.

Molly giggled.

"Um, excuse me?" said a voice coming from her left.

She jumped and looked around to see a boy, probably in his teens, staring at her. Molly blushed, realizing that he probably thought she was talking to herself. So much for first impressions.

"Uh, hi. Sorry if I bothered you. I'm Molly, the new farmer."

"Oh no, not at all, sorry to have startled you. I'm Bo, I work at the Carpenter's shop along with Dale and his son Luke, although Luke isn't home right now."

_Everyone is so polite here_, Molly thought. It was so different from the city where, if you were riding the bus, no one would stop talking on their phone or stop smoking to make the ride more comfortable.

"Hi Bo, nice to meet you. So all three of you are carpenters?" she asked.

"Well, not quite," he said, rubbing his neck, "I'm only an apprentice, it's mostly Dale and Luke that do all of the work."

"Oh okay, well I'm sure you're still good regardless. I can guarantee that you're much better than me, even though that doesn't count for much," Molly said. She had never even taken a woodshop class in high school so she had no idea how to fix anything.

"Well, thanks," he replied shyly.

"Uh huh. Is the shop open right now? I was hoping to introduce myself to everyone before heading back to my house."

"Oh, yeah. Dale is inside but Luke…well actually, he went to Fugue Forest yesterday and still hasn't come back."

"What? Is he okay, should we go look for him?" Molly asked, surprised. She didn't know how he could talk about something like that so casually.

"He should be okay, he's always getting lost. But, it has been awhile so…if you go in there and see him will you tell him to come back?"

"I…yeah, I'll tell him if I see him," she said. She was going to head over to Flute Fields in awhile so she could check the forest too while she was over there.

"Great! I'll go get the key for the forest from Dale, why don't you come with me so you can introduce yourself?" Bo said, gesturing for her to come inside.

Molly complied and, after talking to Dale for a couple minutes and stashing the key safely away in her pocket, she continued to visit the other shops and made her way back to her house in time for a quick lunch before heading back out again.

"So where are we heading to next?" asked Finn.

"We are going to Flute Fields so I can introduce myself to everyone, and then we can head over to the forest because I'm kind of worried about that Luke guy…"

"Oh, him. I've only been here for a couple months but I've seen him and he's always doing stuff like this," Finn said.

"Getting lost in forests?" asked Molly, getting more curious about what type of guy this Luke person was.

"Well, not necessarily lost but…well you'll understand when you meet him."

"Okay…?" replied Molly, crossing the bridge that would lead into Flute Fields.

As she was walking to her right, Molly started to hear a faint sound coming from the river bank and walked down to investigate. She realized that the sound was someone whistling and she saw a man with light blue hair fishing in the river. She wondered if this was one of the men Paolo, the little boy at the Fishery was talking about yesterday.

Making her way over, Molly was just about to get his attention when he reeled in his line and threw it back to make a cast. Molly, being only a couple feet away, almost got caught by the fish hook and hastily stumbled back.

"Uwah!"

The man, startled by the noise, stopped whistling and quickly turned in her direction. Her face burned as his eyebrows rose above his hairline watching her stumble awkwardly.

"Uh, s-sorry, I was just about to get your attention but you threw back your rod to cast and I…er…got in the way, ah-ha…," Molly said, trying to cover her red face with one hand and doing the short laugh she always does when she's in an awkward situation.

The man smiled kindly and set his rod down on the ground. Molly lowered her hand away from her face and reached out to grab the hand he held out to shake.

"I'm sorry, I should've noticed you earlier but when I start fishing I find that my mind tends to go elsewhere."

Molly couldn't help but smile back at him, his friendliness was so contagious.

"No, no, it's okay; I should've said something earlier. Uhm, my name is Molly, I'm the new farmer."

"Hello Molly. I'm Toby, I live over at the fishery in town."

"Oh, so you're Toby," she said, and noticing the question on his face, elaborated, telling him that Paolo had mentioned him to her yesterday when she got off the boat.

"Oh, alright. Yes, he's my cousin and Ozzie, his dad, is my uncle."

"He's a very nice little boy. He even invited me to go fishing," Molly replied.

"That sounds like a great idea. You'll have to come with the three of us the next day we have off," said Toby, looking genuinely excited at the prospect of a fishing trip with her.

"Yeah, I'd like to, although someone will have to teach me how to fish…"

Toby's eyes, which were partially closed in a squint until now, popped open in surprise and said loudly, "You've never been fishing before!?"

Molly, so mesmerized by his stunning teal eyes, almost didn't hear him but managed a small, "N-no, I never got out of the city much."

"That's it," said Toby, gathering his fishing equipment, "it's decided. You're definitely coming with us; you've been missing out until now. Fishing is one of the greatest activities to do on Earth."

Molly just smiled, not really seeing how fishing could be that great but, not wanting to insult Toby, who obviously loved fishing, kept her mouth shut.

"Well, it's about time that I headed back, the fish aren't biting anymore. I'll talk to you again and let you know what day we'll head out."

"Oh okay, sure. Enjoy your day!" she said, watching him climb up to cross the bridge.

He smiled and waved back.

She waited until he was out of sight before turning to Finn.

"He was a nice guy, wasn't he?" she asked him.

Finn nodded and bobbed his head in the direction of two houses farther along. "Should we head over there next?"

Molly agreed and they headed over only to see a small boy arguing with his parents. She only caught the last part of their conversation but it seemed as if they were arguing about the seeds they were trying to grow. The little boy shouted something at his father and stalked past her, heading towards town. Molly, deciding it was a bad time to introduce herself, was just about to walk away until the man yelled out for her to stop.

She turned around and headed back towards the man and what looked to be his wife. If she had to summarize them both in one word it would be "sullen". They were both very average people, wearing the same looks on their faces as the ones she would see on the middle-aged adults in the subway, reading the newspaper and sighing every five minutes.

"You. Who are you?" the man asked.

Molly got nervous, noticing the hint of frustration in his voice. Talk about bad timing…

"I'm Molly, I'm the new farmer."

"Yes, yes, it is sort of obvious," he said impatiently.

Molly frowned a little bit. If it was obvious, why did he even ask who she was?

"O-oh, well then…if you'll excuse me," she said, taking a step back.

"Oh and now she's going to go ahead and leave after just an introduction, I see that all city girls act the same. No manners at all," he said, crossing his arms.

Now Molly was getting angry. "I don't have any manners? You haven't even said your name."

"And now she's talking back to me!"

His wife started to move forward, to join in or to calm down her husband; Molly didn't know, but before anyone could say anything else the door to the house on their left suddenly slammed open.

"Would you ALL just shut up? It's still morning and you're shouting nonsense right outside my door," said Chase, running a hand through his strawberry hair, still tangled from sleep.

For a moment they were all shocked speechless but then the man directed his attention towards Chase and said something rude, which, in turn, Chase said something rude back.

Molly, thinking about just sneaking quietly away, was then approached by his wife.

"I'm sorry about my husband. It's just, our family has been going through some rough times and he's just taking it harder than the rest of us. He's not usually this rude, please forgive him. My name is Ruth by the way, and my husband's name is Craig."

Ruth, even though her face gave away no emotion other than boredom, seemed honest enough and Molly sighed, all of her previous anger washing away.

"No, I understand, it's okay."

Ruth gave a small smile, making her look younger and yelled for her husband to stop arguing with Chase.

"What is it?" Craig said grumpily.

"I think it's time we get back to the store, dear."

Craig just 'hmphed' and started to make his way back to the store when Chase called out for him to stop.

"What?" asked Craig, obviously annoyed.

"I think you should apologize to Molly," Chase said, nodding his head in her direction.

Molly started waving her arms and saying it was okay but Chase silenced her with a hard look.

"An apology? For what?"

"For taking out the anger over your failing store on her," he said. _Wow_, Molly thought, _Chase sure didn't hold back his punches._

Craig turned beat red and started stuttering. He looked like he was about to explode but, instead, he turned towards Molly, barked out a short "Sorry" and stalked back to his store, Ruth following close behind him.

Molly was speechless and just stared after them. Chase, after looking at her for a moment, proceeded to turn around and go back into his house.

"Wait!" Molly said, reaching out her hand to stop him.

He stopped and faced her.

"What is it?"

Molly fidgeted nervously. She didn't know what to make of Chase. First he's rude and sarcastic and then he's caring, she didn't know if he was nice or unpleasant. She decided that she would hold off on that judgment for now.

"Um, thank you. For interfering back there."

Chase stared back at her for so long she started to get self-conscious, but before she could say anything he just shrugged, said, "No problem", and went back in his house.

Molly exchanged a confused look with Finn and continued over to Horn Ranch to introduce herself to that family and they finally made it to the entrance of Fugue Forest.

"Are we going to look for Luke now?" Finn asked, resting on her shoulder.

"I guess so," said Molly. "Is this place really like a maze?"

Dale had told her, while handing her the key, to be careful because the forest was like a natural made maze and was easy to get lost in.

Finn shrugged saying he had never been in there before.

Molly sighed. "Well, I guess we'll find out," she said, unlocking the door and staring into the dark canopy of trees ahead. She had a hunch she wouldn't see the sky for awhile and with that feeling she stepped into the forest.

* * *

**AU: ****I…don't really have anything to say. I've been gone for months but now I'm back and plan on continuing this story. So, if you'll read it, please support me (: Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4 Tricks of the Mind

**Chapter 4**

**Tricks of the Mind**

Do not compare me to a flower

I will not wilt,

I will not sway,

So take your water far away.

Do not compare me to a flower

I will not grow,

I will not bloom,

Surely, you can only bring me doom.

* * *

"I think we may be lost."

Molly looked around the forest uneasily, it was noon when they came in but the trees made it so dark that she couldn't tell what time it was. Was it past three? Five? It felt like hours since they've been in there and both of them were getting tired. Plus, so far, there was no sign of Luke, or any other human. Molly could understand why no one ever came in here.

"Oh, no, we've been here before," said Finn, pointing out a stick that was stuck in the ground at the base of a tree. Molly had been doing that every so often so that they wouldn't get lost but, it obviously hadn't helped.

She sighed and sat down on a tree stump, Finn joining her.

"What do you think we should do? It's not like we can call anyone since there aren't any cell phone providers out here I just left mine at my Mom's house. And no one would hear us if we started yelling, either."

"Well, I can fly above the trees and see if I can't find the exit?" Finn said.

Molly paused and almost smacked herself in the forehead. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier?

"It's no good?" asked Finn, reading the frustration in her face.

"No, no, it's a great idea. I was just thinking how stupid I was not to have thought of it earlier. Could you please, Finn?"

Finn nodded enthusiastically. "Sure! I'll be right back! And you're not stupid Molly, you're great!"

Molly gave him a weak smile and waved goodbye as he flew above the tree canopy. She stood up and walked around the trees, looking for more mushrooms to take back and sell.

What did Finn know about her anyway? He's been with her for not even two full days and he's already treating her like she's some great person. She wasn't…she was just normal. It was awkward for her to hear all of these compliments all of a sudden. People were never particularly mean towards her in the past but, aside from her friends and family, she'd never been seen as someone special. Just the quiet girl that was always in the art room, no one had paid much attention to her.

She sighed and leaned against a tree. "There's nothing special about me…"

"That's not how you should talk about yourself," said an unfamiliar voice coming from behind a dense patch of brush.

Molly screamed and backed up several feet, watching as a man emerged from the brush, wielding a giant axe. She hastily searched behind her for the branch sticking out of the ground and made sure she had a firm grip on it.

The man's face was still shrouded in darkness and he continued to walk towards her, his axe making _thump, thump_ sounds as he used it as a walking stick.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she asked in a small voice. When he didn't answer and continued walking her way, she pulled up the stick and raised it above her head shouting, "If you take one more step toward me I'll bash this into the side of your head!"

The man dropped his axe and threw up his arms to protect his head.

"Woah, woah, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise!"

Molly was breathing hard, the stick still raised above her head.

"Look, see, I'm moving away," he said, taking a few cautious steps backwards.

Molly lowered her stick and took a better look at the stranger. Now that he wasn't covered completely in darkness she could tell that he had a flashy bandana on his head covering bright blue hair and a band-aid covering his nose. In fact, he looked around her age. Not that that mattered, she reminded herself. Younger people could be the most dangerous sometimes.

"I'll ask you again, who are you?" she said, louder this time.

"Again? Oh, is that was you asked earlier? I couldn't hear you so…well, my names Luke, I live over in the Garmon Mine District. It's nice to meet you! Sorry if I gave you a scare…sometimes I don't really think haha."

Molly suddenly felt very stupid. She had almost knocked out the very guy she was looking for in this stupid forest. She moved her hand to her face and chuckled in disbelief.

"No…no, it's okay. I'm fine so…it's okay. Uhm, I'm Molly. I'm the person taking over the old farm. It's…nice to meet you too. Although I wish it was under better circumstances haha. Sorry for almost hitting you."

Luke beamed and picked up his axe again, coming over to stand next to her.

"So you're Molly? We've all been waiting for you to get here, I'm so excited! It's not often we get new people on the island, unless they're tourists. This is EXTREME!" he said, pumping his fist in the air.

Molly flinched away and Luke, noticing this, apologized again.

"Sorry, I'm just so excited to meet you! But don't worry, I won't hurt you. See this axe? The only thing I use it for is cutting trees down. Well, one time I almost took off one of Bo's fingers but…that was an accident!"

Molly couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't just how he acted but the expressions on his face that made him funny. She could tell exactly what he was thinking. Now she knew what the others had meant about Luke being…well Luke.

"Oh no, you're laughing at me. I'm not making a very good first impression am I?" he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, seeing that the first time I saw you, you were coming out from behind a bunch of bushes carrying a giant axe…there was pretty much no way to fix that haha. But you're fine, don't worry. I don't think I made a very good first impression either. You probably thought I was some crazy girl with a stick."

"Yeah, you did look pretty hysterical," Luke responded, receiving a playful punch from her on the arm.

He pretended to be injured and made faces, causing Molly to just laugh even more. He reminded her of a friend she had back at college, he was always goofing off too.

"So why are you in Fugue Forest?" Luke asked.

"Actually…I was looking for you."

"You were? Why's that? Couldn't wait to meet me?" Luke said, moving his eyebrows up and down.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Not likely. Your dad, Dale, and Bo were worried and asked me if I could come in here to try and find you."

Now it was Luke's turn to roll his eyes. "Pops is always worrying about me, I don't know why though. I'm not a kid anymore!"

"Well, getting lost in a forest isn't exactly the most mature thing ever…" Molly said, trailing off.

"I wasn't lost!" he protested.

"You weren't? Then why were you gone for so long?" asked Molly.

"I was just chopping trees. I brought a backpack full of some food and water, and I build a kind of tree house out here a couple years ago so I could spend the night in here."

"You want to spend the night in this place? And how could you not get lost, it's a total maze!" Molly exclaimed.

"Naw, I've been exploring in here long enough that I know my way around. But, yeah! All the time! It's really fun. Do you wanna come along one time?" he asked innocently.

"Uh…I think I'll pass," she said, trying to decide if he truly was just asking to be nice or if he meant something else by that statement. Guys did not invite girls to spend the night with them without bad intentions.

Luke just shrugged. "So, you wanna head out? You were lost weren't you?"

Molly blushed indignantly. "I…was just leaving, I would've been fine."

"You're lying, I can tell. You can't fool these eyes; they have a lie detecting radar in them! But now that Super Luke has arrived, you are no longer in danger, my lady! Just follow me and I'll have us outta here in a second!"

"What? That's ridiculous, people don't have lie detecting radars…but I am glad you came along," Molly said appreciatively.

Luke said no problem and they started off. Just as they started walking, Finn flew down from above the trees right ahead of them and, noticing Luke, skirted around him to sit on Molly's shoulders.

"You found Luke? Wow! Good job! Plus, I found the exit, so no worries!"

"Well, more like he found me. And that's good. Luke says he knows the way out but I still have my doubts," Molly whispered as quietly as she could. Since Luke didn't turn around, they were safe to talk in whispers.

"Oh? You'll tell me later, right?" Finn asked.

Molly smiled and nodded her head. She was glad she had met Finn. Even though they barely knew each other he still treated her like a friend he'd known forever. Without Finn, Molly thought her first day here would have been too overwhelming.

Twenty minutes later, they all walked out of the forest and into clearer air, the sun just beginning to set behind the horizon.

"Wow, we really were in there awhile, huh?" Finn said. Molly nodded, thankful that they were finally out. She didn't think she'd be going back in there for awhile…

"Okay, well, we made it out safely. Mission accomplished!" Luke said, punching the air.

"Thanks Luke!"

Luke replied with a "No problem" and suggested that they head back home, offering to walk her to her house. She agreed and allowed him to walk her back, listening to Luke talk about his dad and Bo. Even though he complained about Dale, she could tell he really loved and respected him. She could also tell how much of a brother Bo was to Luke. Apparently Bo had come to the island three years ago to apprenticeship under Dale for carpentry. He used to live in the city just like Molly but when he was thirteen, instead of going to high school he decided to come here.

Molly couldn't imagine making such a decision back in middle school and admired Bo for his determination and dedication to his dream of becoming a carpenter. Someday she'd have to ask him how he came to love it so much.

A few minutes later they were at her beat down house and Luke said goodbye, heading toward the mountain path that would lead him home.

Molly yawned and went inside to make some dinner with a couple ingredients she brought from home and soon after, her and Finn went to bed. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep, remembering Luke and all of his funny stories and mannerisms. She hoped that they could become good friends one day. Soon, Molly and Finn fell asleep, exhausted from their long day in the forest.

* * *

**Woah! Just popped out two chapters in two days! This one is shorter, I know, but it was a good place to stop, I don't want to exhaust whoever is reading this. I'll have the next one up shortly, so thanks for reading and please look forward to it (:**


	5. Chapter 5 A Rocky Start

**Chapter 5**

**A Rocky Start**

She freezes with anticipation

Heart racing in the heat

She hates confrontation

Yet it gets closer, closer

She tries to run towards safety

But where can she hide

When her heart is too hasty

Killing it is the only cure

Taking a poison known as denial

She stops her beating heart

And she smiles

Thinking she won't get hurt

* * *

Molly woke up the next day, refreshed and ready to start on her farm. After a quick breakfast she went out the door, Finn at her shoulder and, after searching her yard for wild fruits and herbs to ship for money, headed toward Marimba farm. She didn't want to go back because of yesterday's awkward incident but, unfortunately, it was the only place she could buy the seeds she needed for her garden.

She had a decent plot in front of her house that had a few cherry trees, which she wasn't really sure what to do with, and was set on planting strawberries, wheat and potatoes. It made sense since, although they were more expensive to buy, aside from the potatoes, they would re-grow and ship for more than most other vegetables.

She arrived at the doorstep exactly when they opened and, thankful that Craig was working in his fields, had a rather pleasant conversation with Ruth about their two children. Both of them it seems went to find seeds that could grow in the nutrition deficient soil. Taylor, the boy she saw arguing with them yesterday, had set off to join in his sister's pursuit the day before. Molly, realizing once again how much the residents depended upon the land, felt determined to start on the first task of finding the red bell that day. After buying the seeds, she asked Ruth whether she knew about any bells but she could only think of a yellow one behind their house which was, for the time being, locked for some reason only known to Craig.

Not looking forward to that conversation, she thanked her anyways and went back to her farm to till the soil and plant her new seeds. It didn't take long before she was off to Harmonica town to ask the others about anything concerning the bells. It turned out that most of them didn't know much, if anything at all. She couldn't believe that no one knew anything about the bells, considering that they were such an important part of the town and a connection to the Harvest Goddess. But, thinking about it, Molly did notice that aside from the church the Harvest Goddess' influence wasn't present anywhere else in the town.

Maybe it wasn't just the lost bells that contributed to the deterioration of the island…

Deciding that she should move onto the Garmon Mine District, she rode the recently fixed mine cart and proceeded to the blacksmith's to question Ramsey and the rest of his family. Walking into the store she saw Ramsey kneeling next to his smelting oven, trying to stir some ashes into flames and sighing when they burned out.

"Um, Ramsey?"

He put down his tool and turned around, the worry wrinkles in his forehead relaxing into a less-defined position.

"Molly. What can I do for you?"

"Oh, well actually I was wondering if you knew anything about the red bell?"

"Hmmm, the red bell?" he asked, stroking his chin. "I think I saw something like that in the lower mines."

"Really?" Molly said, her hopes rising. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

"Yeah, but you've never been mining before have you? If you're not prepared, things could get dangerous," Ramsey said.

"Oh, well, is it very far down? And I don't think I'll really be mining…just searching," she said.

"But still, it'd be better if you had someone with you."

She didn't know exactly what he was getting at. Was he suggesting that he go with her?

"Oh, but I couldn't bother you…"

Ramsey started to chuckle. "Oh no, not me. I was thinking my grandson Owen could help you out."

"Owen?" Molly had met him briefly the day before and had the fleeting image of a tall muscular red-head with a square face and a broad smile.

"Yeah, I'll call him over now," Ramsey said, walking to the kitchen and through a door in the back.

Molly started to protest but her words faded out as he continued to walk away and, moments later, came back with a grinning Owen in tow.

"Here you go; your own personal miner. If there are any big rocks in the way, Owen will help you out."

Molly gave a small smile in Owen's direction and thanked Ramsey, heading toward the lower mine, Owen following behind her.

As they made their way down Owen started making small talk, asking how she liked the island so far, what she planned on planting, what she did before she came here, and so on. She wasn't sure how she felt about Owen; he seemed nice enough but there were times when he came off as brash and, if she was being honest, a bit cocky too.

Once in awhile they stopped and he showed her how to use the hammer to mine the ores and gems. She wasn't very good at it since it took someone with strength and stamina to get very far, but Owen was obviously an expert. He swung the hammer around with ease and before long they had a pile of ores and gems ready to be processed.

Soon they reached the tenth level and had to come to a stop.

"That's odd, since when was this giant boulder here?" Owen said, examining a boulder the size of a small tool shed blocking the way to the latch door that led to the lower floors.

Molly looked around the boulder and saw a copper colored stand of some sorts not too far away. She looked a bit closer and realized that the stand must be the stand for the red bell but, as Finn went to investigate, they saw that the red bell was missing.

Finn shrugged. "I don't know why it's not here…it was not too long ago."

Molly frowned. She knew the villagers wouldn't be of much help, especially since the majority didn't even know where the stand was. Now what was she supposed to do?

In the meantime, she figured she could work on getting the boulder broken down so when they do find the bell they'd actually be able to reach the stand.

"Owen?"

"Yes?" he responded, still eyeing over the boulder.

"If I wanted to break down that boulder…how long do you think it'd take?" she asked.

"You want to try breaking it down? I don't know Molly; it would take an experienced miner a couple of days to tackle this giant. If it was you…well it might take weeks. No offense," he said, frowning.

Molly groaned. _Just one thing after another._

"You really want to mine the lower levels don't cha?"

"Uh…" Molly didn't really want to mine but how could she tell Owen she wanted to return a bell to the stand when he didn't know about their meaning? So she lied and said she was really interested in learning to mine.

"Well, in that case, I can try to clear it out of the way for you!" Owen said, raising his hammer.

"Oh, you'd do that for me?" Molly asked, surprised by his generous offer.

"'Course, it's no big deal. I've been slacking on my weight training lately so this would be good exercise," he said, starting to pound on the rock already.

Molly gave a small smile. It didn't surprise her that he lifted weights; his muscles were the size of his head.

"Wow, thanks Owen. That's really nice of you."

"Don't mention it, but this means that you'll have to return the favor and go out to eat with me," he said, winking.

Molly felt her stomach tighten.

"O-oh, well…"

Owen started laughing loudly, amused by her reluctant reaction.

"Don't have a panic attack Molly, it's just dinner. And besides, I already have someone I'm interested in."

"Oh, you do? Well…I guess it's okay then," Molly said.

"I see how it is, it's okay now that you know I already like someone else so you don't have to worry about me liking you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Molly knew he hit it on the mark but she wasn't about to admit it.

"I…that's…not it," she said, averting her eyes.

Owen just shrugged, deciding to just let her believe what she wants.

"Well, alright. So I'll work on this and you go think about what you want to eat then," said Owen, continuing to hammer away.

Molly smiled, thanked him and made her way back to the surface without much difficulty.

"That was really nice of him, wasn't it?" Finn said, spinning around. "Now we'll just need to find the red bell and soon we can ask Alan to ring it and play his song!"

Molly agreed and was about to voice her concerns over how to find the bell when she saw Bo, his face against the side of the Carpenter's. As she got closer she heard him counting off numbers like he was playing hide-and-seek. Not sure whether to say hi or not, she paused and just as she stopped he shouted "50!" and turned around to see her standing there.

He flushed and smiled shyly. "Oh, hi Molly, what're you doing here?"

"I was just in the mine. Playing something?" she asked.

He blushed again and nodded. "You must think I'm silly, huh? Chloe asked me to play kick the can with her. She looked so bored I couldn't refuse."

"No, not at all. I think it's nice that you're playing with her."

He smiled at her. "Thanks. But, I'd better hurry or she'll beat me again."

Molly waved bye and was heading back towards her house when she saw Chloe charge past her.

She turned and watched as Chloe sprinted to kick something that looked suspiciously like a red bell. It took her a second to realize that it didn't just look like a red bell – it was the red bell.

"Wait, Chloe – ," she started to say, but it was too late. Chloe kicked the bell so hard it flew and landed in her house's chimney.

Finn's mouth was hanging wide open as Chloe started to cheer and gloat to Bo about her 10th win in a row. Soon enough he recovered and started flipping out.

"That was the red bell and she just KICKED it. KICKED IT AND NOW IT'S IN A CHIMNEY. What are we going to do!?"

"Calm down, Finn. Let's just ask her to get it out and let us take it back," Molly said, proceeding to do just that.

When she asked Chloe she said no problem and took them back to the Blacksmith's where they found out from a disgruntled Ramsey that the chimney was clogged up.

"It's clogged?" Molly said.

"Yes, and I have no idea how it got this way, it was fine a moment ago…" Ramsey said, at a loss over the strange event.

Molly stared at Chloe who was fidgeting a couple feet away. Chloe met her eyes and smiled sheepishly.

"Uhm, Grandpa? Actually…I, er, was playing kick the can and sort of…kicked the bell into the chimney…," she said, not looking anyone in the eye.

"Chloe, why are you always getting into trouble? Honestly, now what are we going to do?"

"Can't you get it out somehow?" Molly asked him.

"Well," Ramsey said, thinking for a moment, "I suppose we could create a small explosion that would send up a cloud of smoke and hopefully dislodge that thing."

"And how would we do that?"

"I'd need a few ores from the mine. An iron, copper, silver and gold one would do the trick I think."

Finn groaned next to her.

"I…understand," Molly said, sighing. Then, remembering that Owen gave her the ores they mined earlier this morning, she started pulling them from her rucksack and setting them on top of the table.

After sorting through them they figured out that the only ore she needed now was a gold ore. Gold ores were difficult to get, especially since she was limited to the first ten floors, Ramsey told her.

"Since Chloe was the one that took that bell out from the mine and got it stuck she can help you find that last ore. Isn't that right Chloe?" he said, hands on hips.

"Sure!" Chloe said, pumped up for another adventure.

Molly wasn't sure how this little girl could help her mine but she accepted the offer nonetheless and they decided it'd be best to go right away. So, Molly headed down into the mines again, Chloe following behind her and Finn, unknown to the little girl, was sending her dirty looks every five minutes.

Thanks to Chloe and her familiarity with the mine, getting to the ninth floor, where they were most likely to find a gold ore, didn't take as long as Molly had expected it to take.

After an hour of hammering away, she heard Chloe yell from the other side of the room. Jogging over, she saw something gold shining between the girl's small hands.

"You found a gold ore!?"

Chloe beamed and nodded. "Yup! Now we can go make that huge explosion! Oh, and you can get back your bell."

Molly smiled and thanked her, taking the ore and sticking it in her rucksack. Entering the blacksmith's for the third time that day, Molly handed Ramsey the gold ore and he started to make preparations.

Almost as soon as he made the fire and stuck the ores in, a small explosion, contained by the forge, send up a plume of smoke and they heard something heavy tumble down the roof. Running outside, Molly looked up and held out her hands just in time as it fell down landing squarely in her arms.

"Wow, good catch Molly!" Chloe said, hopping up and down.

Molly smiled and, as an apology for the trouble Chloe caused her, Ramsey invited her in for a late lunch and, re-energized, she exited the shop an hour later.

"So, what now?" Molly asked Finn.

"Of course we need to get it back to the bell stand in the mine!" Finn said.

"But we don't know if Owen it done or not…" Molly said. She really didn't want to go back in that mine.

"Oh yeah, he said it'd take a couple of days, didn't he?" Finn said, disappointed.

"So…I guess we'll just have to wait until he finishes, huh?" she said, trying to hide her relief.

"I guess so…"

"Well, it's only our third day so the fact that we even found a bell already is pretty amazing, don't you think?"

"Yeah, when you put it that way we're doing really good!" Finn said in good spirits again.

Molly smiled and, suggesting they go tell the Harvest Goddess the good news, they headed toward the Harvest Tree.

After taking a few steps, her rucksack started to shake violently and, yelling, she threw it off her back. The straps flew open and the red bell hopped out on its own.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Molly asked Finn, shaken up.

"Uhhhh."

"I am not an 'it'," said a voice coming from the bell.

Over the red bell a small figure started to take form and a harvest sprite, almost identical to Finn besides being a bit larger and wearing the color red instead of orange, waved up at them.

"Hello! My name is Alan, and I'm a harvest sprite! The leader, actually."

"Uh, nice to meet you. I'm Molly," she said.

"And who are you?" Alan said, directing the question to Finn.

"I'm Finn."

"You're a harvest sprite too, but I've never met you. Kind of small, aren't you?"

Finn blushed in embarrassment. "I-I was born after the island started to go."

Alan looked at him as if questioning his authenticity.

"Finn has been a big help. Since all of you other sprites haven't rung your bells, we've been looking for you so we can bring the island back to health," she said.

Finn smiled thankfully and Alan frowned a little.

"It's not my fault my bell was stolen from the mines. But now you can bring me back and I can play my song, so what're you waiting for? Let's get going!" Alan said, marching in air.

"Actually, we can't yet. The entrance is blocked," said Molly.

"What?"

"Right, so until it's out of the way we can't get you back to your bell stand," Finn answered.

Alan started mumbling incoherently and then threw up his arms in frustration saying, "Then until that happens I'm going to go back into my bell," and disappearing just as he said.

"He's…a bit of a handful, isn't he?" Molly said. Finn nodded and together they headed back to her farm.

They both were talking about how tiring the day was while eating dinner when Molly heard a knock on her door. When she opened it, Cain was on the other side holding a rope that was keeping a small black calf a couple feet from his side.

"Hey there Molly, I hope you're doing well?" Cain said with a friendly smile.

"Hi Cain, I'm doing fine. How are you?"

"Oh I'm doing just fine. I was thinking earlier this afternoon that you didn't have any animals to fill that big barn of yours yet. One of our cows just had this here calf and I figured we had enough already so, if you want, you can raise this one."

Molly's eyes got huge as she took in what he said. A free calf to raise? Could she do it?

"Oh, that's too generous of you, are you sure it's okay? I mean…I've never raised anything other than a cat, you know," Molly said, not quite believing that Cain would just give away a calf.

"Haha, don't worry about that. I'll teach you everything there is to know. I've even already filled up your barn with fodder," he said.

Molly didn't know how she felt about him going inside her barn as he pleases but she smiled and accepted his offer.

"Then I guess I'd better take her then, thanks so much!"

Cain shook his head and said no problem and led the calf into the barn with Molly following behind and taught her all she needed to know to be able to raise a calf properly.

"The last thing you need to do now is name it," he said, patting the small calf on the behind.

Molly took a moment to think about it and named her new calf Raven after the bird.

"Raven, huh? Like the bird?" Cain asked.

"Yeah, since Ravens are black. I thought it'd be a nice name…"

"It sure suits her. I think she likes it too," he chuckled as the calf nudged Molly's thigh.

Molly smiled and patted its head.

"Well, if you're all set here I'd better get back to the ranch. Hannah will yell at me if I'm late for supper. I'll see you around Molly, take care."

"Bye, take care! And thanks again!" she said, waving until he reached the main path.

"Wow Molly, you have a calf now!" Finn said, excited for her.

"Yeah, now we can get our own milk and stuff."

"Woo!" Finn continued to celebrate and they left to go back to the house. Looking back on the day, Molly thought they accomplished a lot. She started her garden, found the red bell and obtained a new baby calf. Maybe it won't take so long to heal the island after all.

"Alright, let's go finish our dinner Finn."

"Mmmhmmm!"

* * *

**AU: First off, thank you Narwhale1 for the very kind reviews. I will try my best to live up to your expectations and I'm glad you're giving my story a shot. If you ever have some good advice, whether it be about grammar, the characters or the plot development feel free to tell me, I welcome all constructive criticism. Of course I like compliments as well (:**  
**So, just a glimpse into next chapter, things get exciting as Molly goes on a fishing trip with some of our favorite fishermen so don't start thinking she'll just keep working on her farm and searching for bells, many interesting encounters with the other villagers await you! Until next time! Thanks for reading and if you could, review please ^^**  
**P.S. My goal is to update twice a week, so check your email frequently. This one was late only because my internet wouldn't work...living in the country can be so inconvenient sometimes...*sigh***


	6. Chapter 6 A Comedian and an Explorer

**Chapter 6**

**A Comedian and an Explorer**

Mysterious visitor

Where are you headed?

Might I be of assistance?

I will give you some advice

Heed me if you wish

If you do not, you can't be much worse

When lost on your way, there are three different paths

That can point you in a direction

Follow your mind and you will find security

Your body; pleasures abound

Follow your heart and you will find an ocean

As dangerous as it is life-giving

There may be islands with unknown fruits

For you to feast on

Or there may be a sea monster, lurking in the depths

Waiting for you to give up

The truth of the heart, is that you will never know

What you might find down that path

But if you want my opinion, I would say risk it

Because, at the very least, you will experience

A feeling that can last past your life

* * *

By Saturday, Owen called Molly to tell her that he had successfully cleared out the boulder that was preventing them from returning the red bell back to its rightful place. He also made sure she remembered her promise to go out to dinner with him so they decided on Monday at 6:00pm at the Brass Bar. Molly wasn't particularly looking forward to it, but she had said she'd go, so she would.

But, she didn't have time to worry about Owen's intentions when they had a bell to return, so that morning both her and Finn made their way to the tenth floor, bell in hand, to let Alan play his song. Molly didn't know what to expect when Alan rung his bell. Finn had told her Alan had power over the fire on the island so maybe as he played his song flames would engulf the bell stand or maybe the sprite himself would glow with its power, but the only thing that glowed was the bell, and even that was brief.

As he played she felt how deep his connection to the island was as well as his connection to the Harvest Goddess. His low-toned song reminded her of the miners that must've built the mines decades ago, and perhaps at that time their hammers pounded to the same beat of Alan's song. The melody traveled across the island, penetrating deep underground and floating high into the sky. Its power filled the island and she felt its strength deep within her heart, igniting some sort of power she didn't even know she had. Suddenly, she felt an intense heat course through her veins. At that moment, everything felt possible, but then, as quickly as it came; it disappeared leaving a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She put her hand over her middle and looked at Alan in awe. She didn't know that such a little sprite was capable of producing a sound that affected everything as it did. Maybe she had underestimated him.

"Pretty intense, huh?" Alan said, grinning.

Molly just nodded, still reveling in the experience.

"That's why I'm the leader, 'cause only I can control the fire on this island and fire is the most powerful force and the hardest to control!" Alan said, crossing his arms impressively.

Molly raised her eyebrow. "The most powerful? I'm not so sure about that…"

"Do you doubt my authority?" Alan asked, puffing out his chest.

"Oh, no, I'm sure you're a great leader, but I think that there are more powerful things in this world," said Molly.

"Like what?" Alan challenged.

"Just…other things…like water," Molly whispered. Sure, fire could be powerful but what about the ocean in a storm, waves crushing everything they touch. Destroying boats, docks, engulfing houses, lives…a fire could explode, it could spread, but could it flood an entire island in one fell swoop?

"What was that?" Alan asked, not quite catching the end as she trailed off.

Finn looked over at Molly, her jaw was clenched and as he looked down he could see her fists tight against her side.

"Molly?" Finn asked hesitantly.

"What? Oh, sorry. I spaced out for a second. A-anyways, thank you Alan, now there are only four more bells to ring. Hopefully the villagers will be able to do more things now," she said, putting a smile on.

"Hmm, well it's no problem; it is my duty after all! Anything to help the Harvest Goddess!"

"Right," said Finn, nodding his head in agreement. Molly smiled, the must really love the Harvest Goddess, but she could understand why.

"Speaking of the Harvest Goddess, we should go and ask her where to start looking for Collin's bell, right Finn?"

"Yeah! Let's get going," said Finn, spinning around.

"Alright, well, we'll see you later Alan," Molly said, waving goodbye.

Alan waved goodbye and they made their way over to the Harvest Tree to ask for advice.

"Molly, Finn, welcome. I'm so glad you've come," said the Harvest Goddess, tilting her head and giving them a loving smile.

Finn flew into her arms and Molly smiled back, once again slightly overwhelmed by her beauty.

"What news do you bring me?"

"We've returned the red bell to the mines and Alan has rung his bell," Molly answered.

The Harvest Goddess nodded, "Yes, I heard his song just a few minutes ago. I'm so glad you found him so quickly, you are such a hard worker and I am so happy Finn was able find you."

Molly blushed. "Oh no, we were only able to accomplish this because of the help of the other villagers, at least, I don't think I did much, really…"

"That's not true, Molly!" Finn said reprovingly.

"If it weren't for the both of you no one would have been able to find Alan and this island would have fallen further into sickness," said the Harvest Goddess, staring at Molly with so much sincerity she was at a loss for words. She wasn't used to being relied on this much as well as being so appreciated. It was a nice feeling.

"Thank you," she whispered, looking down. The Harvest Goddess smiled back and let Finn fly away to float next to Molly's side.

"Now to find Collin. Give me a minute to try and find his location," said the Harvest Goddess, bringing her hands to her chest over her heart while a steady white glow enveloped her body, the air around her radiating with warmth. Molly shivered as she felt her power brush her skin.

"I have the feeling of being buried and I hear something, constantly getting louder and then softer again. If I had to guess I would say that Collin's bell is on a beach somewhere, which one, I cannot tell."

"Wow, that's amazing. You can feel where the bells are?" Molly asked.

"Because I brought these sprites into the world we have a deep connection with each other, so I am able to feel them out by concentrating my power. However, sometimes it does not work and the farther away they are, the harder it is for me to locate them. Thankfully we don't have that problem as the bells are all safely here on the island."

"I see. It's very helpful, thank you very much. Finn and I will start searching so we can ring the next bell," Molly said, bowing respectfully.

"I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate you being here. And Molly, the island's health is indeed a priority, but do not overwork yourself. I do understand how busy you are, so please, do not put your own health at risk, it is not a bad thing to work slowly," said the Harvest Goddess, her voice concerned.

"Thank you for worrying about me, but I'm okay," said Molly, smiling reassuringly.

The Harvest Goddess didn't look convinced but she let them go regardless and prayed for their protection.

Since the closest beach was the one in town by the docks Molly and Finn took the usual breakneck mine cart ride down to the church. Looking to her right she noticed for the first time a set of stairs leading to a smaller cliff.

"Finn, where do those stairs lead to?"

Finn looked over to where she was pointing. "Oh. That's where the town cemetery is."

"O-oh..." Molly didn't understand why she was surprised by this news, obviously there had to be a cemetery, even on such a peaceful island like this, people still died. This thought seriously depressed her and she shook her head, looking instead to the church that never failed to make her feel at peace. Its great white stone façade and its beautiful stained glass windows stood out and stared at her in greeting. She'd only been inside a couple times, and although the inside was nice too, she preferred to look at it from the outside instead. Sometime she'd have to come up and draw it in her sketchpad.

Greeting some of the villagers on her way, she slowly made it to the beach and she and Finn commenced their search for Collin's bell. After a half an hour of searching the small beach, digging under sand and looking between rocks, they still couldn't find anything.

"I guess he's on a different beach," Molly said, wiping the sweat on her forehead with a small handkerchief she kept in her skirt pocket. It wasn't that hot but the sun was beating down and warming the sand beneath her feet.

"Yeah…should we check the one between the town and the house?" Finn asked.

Molly nodded and started walking past the Fishery when she noticed Toby standing at the edge of the dock fishing. Having the good sense to make her presence known earlier so there wouldn't be a repeat of last time, she called out to him waving her hand.

Toby turned around and smiled, his hand covering his forehead to block the sun.

"Molly, how are you?" he asked, reeling in his fishing line.

"I'm doing really well; I love it here on the island. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great, thank you. I saw you over on the beach just now. Were you looking for something?"

"Oh, uhm, well I was just…looking for one of those sakura seashells. You know, some seashells can be turned into paint," Molly said, quickly coming up with a cover story. It wasn't a complete lie though; she really did want some of those seashells to try making some new paint.

"Really? I didn't know that…did you have any luck?"

"No…but that's okay, I'm not in a hurry," she said.

"I see…," Toby said, looking off into the distance. He seemed to be thinking hard about something, what it was Molly hadn't the slightest idea. The few times she's seen him he always looked as if he was off in his own world. Not that that was a bad thing. Molly was often like that herself, more so when she was having problems though.

"Well, I'm going to head back to my house, so I'll see you later," she said, bringing him back to the present.

"Alright, don't work too hard," Toby said, waving goodbye. "Oh, wait, Molly?" he said, stopping her before she could walk up the steps into town.

She turned around expectantly as he walked up to her.

"I almost forgot to ask, are you free this Tuesday?" he asked.

Molly's heart started to race. Why was he asking her that?

"I, uhm, I think so…why?" she asked, trying not to be too suspicious. Toby didn't seem like the type of guy to ask out girls after only knowing them for a week. It probably wasn't a big deal to other people, a week isn't that short to be asked out for a date but Molly was suspicious of everything men did if it pointed to anything other than friendship. She couldn't help it; it was how she'd grown up in the last few years. She was constantly on the lookout for any type of emotion beyond friendship from men. As expected, she didn't have many guy friends for fear of them falling for her…and her for them.

"Well actually, it's my birthday and we're closing the shop for the day to go fishing out on the boat. My uncle, Paolo and I were wondering if you wanted to come along. It'd be the perfect opportunity to teach you how to fish and we have extra poles, so don't worry about that."

"Oh," Molly said with a hint of relief. It was with his family too, not just him. "Yeah, that sounds great, I'd love to!"

Toby practically beamed. "Great! Then, be here at six o'clock Tuesday morning."

"Six o'clock? Yeah…I guess we'd have to get out that early, huh?" Molly said, her shoulder slumping forward a bit. She didn't really like getting up that early and even though she had morning classes in college the earliest she'd ever had to get up was at eight.

Toby chuckled understandingly. "Usually we'd be out by five but we pushed it later for you."

"Thanks, I appreciate it ha-ha," she said.

"Sorry, I've kept you from your work, I'll say goodbye now."

"Oh no, it's fine. Then, I'll see you Tuesday," Molly said, waving goodbye a second time.

"A fishing trip! It sounds fun!" Finn said.

"Mhmm. You can come too, you know," Molly said. She was used to him always by her side and wanted him to know that she didn't mind him coming places with her.

"Oh, well, I don't know if I should. We'd still be around the island but…I should stay here, I think."

"Oh?" Molly said. She didn't know the sprites had limits to where they could go, but I guess it did make sense. But Finn would've had to leave the island to search for her wouldn't he? She didn't understand, but she let it go for now.

"Yeah, so you go and have fun with Toby and the rest. I'll stay at home and keep searching for Collin's bell, if we don't find it by then."

"We'll definitely find it soon," Molly said. "There are only two more beaches so it won't take too long."

It turned out Molly was right and at the beach before their house they found a yellow bell half covered by sand, dangerously close to being swept away by the tide.

"Molly!" Finn shouted, zooming over to the bell. She followed close behind and together they pulled it from the sand.

Just like before it started vibrating, but something was off this time. Instead of the violent shaking from Alan's bell this one was like a car engine having trouble starting up. It barely glowed and it took Collin twice as long to manifest himself.

"Hullo…," Collin said, voice quiet and head hanging low.

"Collin?" Finn said, as if he wasn't sure he was the right sprite.

"Yes, that's right…I'm Collin…rhymes with…Stalin…," he said, sighing.

"Uhh…like, Stalin from Russia?" Molly said, not quite sure why he said that. Was he always like this?

"This isn't right Molly; usually Collin's jokes are way funnier. There must be something wrong!" Finn said, despairingly. Molly didn't think Collin's lack of good jokes was much to worry about but she agreed that something most definitely seemed off.

"Collin? What's wrong?" she asked. Collin looked up at her.

"Who are…you?"

"I'm Molly, the Harvest Goddess asked me, along with Finn, to help find and ring the bells. Could you tell me what's wrong, you look sick."

Collin sighed again. "My power has…been drained away. I…was taken from my stand and…tossed into the ocean…thankfully, I came back to shore but…I've been away for so long…that I don't have much strength."

"Oh no!" Finn said, covering his face. "What should we do?"

"The only way to bring back my power is…to find the three moon stones and…hold the bell over them so I can…absorb the moonlight," Collin said, his voice getting softer.

Molly started to worry as his image flickered and he coughed into his little hands weakly.

"We understand, so we just have to find these moonstones, right?" Molly asked.

Collin just nodded his head, too tired to speak any longer.

"Don't worry Collin; we'll get your power back!" Finn said trying to reassure him.

Collin gave them a weak smile and whispered a "thank you", disappearing back into his bell.

Molly exchanged a worried glance with Finn and picked up the bell, heading back to the farm.

"What do you think?" Molly asked him.

"Hmm, it's really weird. Why did his bell get thrown into the ocean and how did he lose so much power?" Finn said.

"Well, only a person could do that right, I mean no animal could get a bell off of a stand, right? But, how does a harvest sprite lose his power?"

"There are two ways. One; the Goddess Tree has to be in a very weakened state, which would affect the Goddess herself and us sprites or two; a sprite has to be the subject of constant negative feelings from an outside source. Of course there are cases where both happen and the sprite becomes unable to do much of anything…sort of like Collin."

"Wow," said Molly, she didn't know that beings like the sprites could be affected from just other people's emotions.

"Yeah, that's why we like being around the Harvest Goddess, she's always nice, to everyone!" Finn said.

"Everyone?"

"Everyone," said Finn, emphasizing his statement by making a big circle with his arms.

She didn't know if she truly believed that, but she wasn't going to press it.

"Alright Finn, let's go get Raven in and try asking around for those moonstones…"

Finn nodded enthusiastically and helped her persuade her cow to go into the barn (it turned out that animals could recognize harvest sprites too). Then, after debating about it for a few minutes, they decided to go search around the Flute Fields area because Finn said he thought he saw an odd-looking stone by there and simply because they had already went to the other parts of the island and didn't feel like re-visiting them.

"Where did you say you saw it?" Molly asked him, glancing around after stepping off of the bridge.

"I can't remember," Finn said, furrowing his brow.

"That's okay, it shouldn't be too hard to find," Molly said, starting their search by the riverbed.

They searched by Marimba Farm, getting weird glances from Craig by his window, and made their way past Chase's house and to Moon Hill.

It was past 6 o'clock by that time and Molly stood up to see if she could see anything glowing dully in the distance. At that time she noticed another person a little farther away on the side of the hill by Horn Ranch.

"Finn," she whispered, "who's that, do you know?"

Finn looked to where she nodded her head and shook his.

"Nope, never seen him before, he must be new."

Molly cautiously made her way over his way, intending to watch him from afar first but saw that he was bending down looking at something…and it was glowing!

Her sense of duty won out over her shyness and she headed to where he was.

"Uhm, excuse me?" she said loudly enough for him to hear.

He straightened up and she saw that he was wearing a ten-gallon hat with an outfit fit for an archeologist or perhaps someone who worked at a safari.

"Yes'm?" he asked in a southern accent.

"I was wondering what that was you were looking at…"

"Oh, this stone here? Well, you see I found this tablet that listed the location of three different moonstones and I found one here. It's amazing, there are so many mysterious things about this island," he said, his voice rising the more excited he got.

"O-oh?" Molly said, peering over his shoulder at the rock that was perfectly round with smooth edges and its face carved into a picture of the moon.

"You seem doubtful. Do you want to look at the tablet?" he asked, handing it out to her.

"Sure," she said accepting the heavy stone. "Oh, my name is Molly. Actually, I just got here about a week ago."

"Nice to meet you, Molly," he said, reaching out his hand to shake hers. "I'm Calvin; I'm an archeologist and an explorer."

"Wow that sounds exciting."

"Yes, and I wouldn't want it either way," he said, smiling from under his hat. "Well, you can hang on to that for now, you look like a girl that likes adventure. I'll be seeing you around."

Molly stowed the tablet in her rucksack after she waved goodbye and examined the moonstone closer.

"So, we're just supposed to hold the bell over this stone?" Molly asked, taking out the bell.

"Seems like it," Finn replied.

She stood over the stone and held the bell in her arms, waiting for a reaction. After a few seconds the bell started to get warmer in her hands and glow a little.

"I think it's done," Finn said after the bell stopped getting brighter.

"Okay. So, I guess we should head back for tonight and find the other ones tomorrow, huh?" Molly said, hitching up her rucksack and walking away.

"Yup! Sounds good to me!"

Molly and Finn walked back to her house, shutting the door behind them and plopping down on her twin-size bed.

"I'm exhausted," Molly said, throwing her arms out on both sides. Finn agreed and laid down next to her head.

Tomorrow she just had to take care of her garden, milk Raven and possibly buy a chicken from Hannah over at Horn Ranch before getting ready to meet Owen at the Brass Bar. She figured that if her visit didn't last too long Finn and she would head over to the lighthouse where they thought another moonstone was located, according to the stone tablet Calvin had gave them earlier.

Then, it was off the next morning to go fishing with Toby and them. It seemed like she was always busy, but it was probably a good thing since it kept her from thinking about other things. She was glad she moved out here, but it was a lot to handle. She just had to keep trying her best and, as long as Finn was by her side to help her, they would at least be able to find all of the bells. As for her farm, along with her animals, and making friends with the villagers….well, she'd just have to work hard and remember: this was her home now, and how she acted and what she did was all in the effort of making it what she wanted. Which, of course, was a peaceful life.

She breathed in the cool air coming in from her window deeply and closed her eyes. This was her life now and she had to work hard to make it a good one.

* * *

**AU:**

**Okay, I know I promised a fishing trip with Toby and the rest in this chapter but it didn't turn out like that. It would've been way too long, especially since there is the dinner with Owen first. But, I guarantee both of these things in the next chapter, so don't be too put out haha. I just got a job, so I might be a little bit slower with the updates now, depending on how much I work in one week but I will try to keep it on a weekly schedule for updates. The next chapter though should be up in a couple of days because I feel bad for going back on what I said last chapter :P so you can look forward to that. **

**Thanks for the reviews and favorites and follows and remember: if you have any questions, just PM me, or leave it in a review. If things aren't following exactly like what happened in Animal Parade, like bell locations or tasks left out, then it's most likely not a mistake; I'm not going to be following the story word for word, because that would be boring. So, aside from that, thanks for reading and don't forget to review! :D**


	7. Chapter 7 Just Relax

**Chapter 7**

**Just Relax**

It blinds me

The rays bouncing off of its waves

Kill my eyes

The beauty lost in a feeling of suffocation

I can't breathe

The water pounds me against other souls

Lost in this sea of people

Not knowing who

Not knowing what

Will find them next

* * *

It was Monday night, 5:30 p.m. and Molly was giving herself a final look-over in the mirror by her nightstand. She didn't think dinner with Owen at a bar was an occasion to dress fancy so she chose to wear some dark skinny jeans with black sandals paired with a simple white blouse and a bright blue blazer over it. It was still March so the blazer was serving as her jacket. Molly didn't spend a lot of money on clothes but she still made sure she looked nice, if she dressed like a slob she tended to feel worse about herself than if she was in something more fashionable.

"What do you think Finn?" she asked the small sprite, looking at her reflection from behind her.

"You always look nice Molly!" he said praising her.

"Thanks, but that doesn't really help," Molly said laughing a little. Finn didn't know how to insult anyone; she wondered if she had asked him that question after working outside all day if his answer would've been the same. "But, I guess it doesn't matter, it is just Owen. And it is just the Brass Bar, it's not like we're going anywhere fancy. Well, plus, it's not even a date." _That's right, it isn't a date,_ she reminded herself. Molly was starting to get nervous for no reason. Looking at the clock it showed 5:35 so she grabbed her orange clutch and she and Finn left, locking the door behind them.

"Alright, so you'll wait at the lighthouse until I'm done with dinner, right?" she asked Finn, making sure she knew where he was going to be when she tried to find him afterwards.

"Yup! According to that stone tablet there should be another moonstone in that area so I'll find it and wait for you there."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. I shouldn't be too long, maybe an hour or so," Molly said. She didn't want to stay too long.

"You can stay until whenever Molly, I don't mind," he said.

"But I mind making you wait, so I'll try not to let it go on too long," said Molly.

"You're so nice Molly," Finn said smiling.

Molly blushed, embarrassed. "No, no. That's just normal."

Finn rolled his eyes and didn't say anything more. He had already figured out that Molly didn't take compliments too well. But, it was better to be humble than conceited so it was okay. He just wanted her to realize what a great person she was. It was important to find the bells but Finn felt like he had the extra job of boosting her confidence and he was starting to think that it would take just as long to do that as finding all of the bells.

"Okay, we're here," Molly said, motioning to the wooden doors that led inside the bar. So far, Owen wasn't in sight but she was five minutes early so she would wait outside for him. She waved as Finn headed toward the lighthouse and went to look out over the edge at the ocean. It was already pretty dark out so the ocean was just a giant slab of dark blue, the occasional sparkle showing the sign of a wave as it caught the moonlight.

It was so calm on this island; never before has she been in such a peaceful place. Not many people were out walking and since there weren't any cars there wasn't that constant noise of an engine or the honk of an impatient taxi driver. The only thing she could hear was the sound of the waves slapping against the stone wall and the distant voices of Irene and Shelley talking outside of the clinic.

She looked below the ledge she was leaning against and saw a white cat walking along the paved stone that acted as the island's seawall. It looked up at her; it's blue eyes as light as ice. It meowed and jumped up a step to come closer.

"Here kitty, kitty," she whispered, holding out her hand. The cat seemed hesitant but climbed another step, a couple inches out of reach. Molly reached out over the ledge some more, her feet momentarily leaving the ground as she gently patted the cat's head.

"What do you think you're doing!?" said a voice and a strong pair of hands yanked her back, holding her steady as she lost her balance and almost fell down.

Molly looked up and saw Owen staring down at her with a hard look.

"W-what?" she stammered, surprised.

"I asked what you were doing, that was pretty stupid you know, that ledge isn't very tall and doesn't even have any railings. You could've fallen!"

"I was petting a cat, don't worry, I was barely leaning over," she said, getting a little flustered. He was still holding onto her shoulders.

"Bull crap, your feet were off the ground. I know it isn't that big of a drop but you could still break a leg or something, so next time…next time go down the stairs and pet the cat like a normal person!" he said, upset.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? Calm down, Owen, it's not that big of a deal. I understand, I won't do it again," Molly said, getting a bit upset herself. She was just petting a cat, and she had it under control.

"Okay. Good," Owen said, letting go of her shoulders and crossing his arms, trying to calm himself down.

Molly rubbed her shoulders. "Better?" she asked, as he let out a long sigh.

"Yeah, sorry, I guess I just freaked out when I saw you leaning over. It did look like you were going to fall, though," he said, staring accusingly.

"Well, sorry for looking like I was going to fall?" she said, a bit uncertainly.

"No, no, it's fine. Nothing happened, so it's fine," Owen said, running his hand through his short red hair. "Well, should we go in?"

Molly nodded and let him hold the door open as she entered the bar. She'd only been in there once before. It was a small bar with a large dining area and a small dance floor. Most things were wooden, just like her house, along with a few potted plants and metal decorations hung up on the wall.

Owen led them over to a two-person couch to the right of the door and sat down, patting the spot next to him.

"Sit on down."

Molly did and picked up a small two-sided menu from the table in front of them.

"What would you recommend?" she asked Owen. "I actually haven't been here to eat yet."

"You haven't? Well, you're in for a treat then, they have really good food here."

"Oh yeah?" Molly asked, wondering if it was Hayden that cooked the food.

"Yeah, Chase may be grumpy but he makes a mean lasagna," said Owen.

"Chase?" she said, surprised.

"Yeah, Chase. He's the chef here, you didn't know?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I think he did tell me he works here. But I didn't know he was a chef," Molly said. She would've have pegged Chase as a guy that likes to cook but then again, she didn't really know him that well.

"Oh yeah, he came here about a year ago and started working here right away. Apparently he's been studying under Yolanda, but I think he went to a culinary school before this too. I'm not sure; me and Chase don't really talk that often."

Molly chuckled. "Well, I can understand. Chase isn't really the sociable type, is he?"

"What about me?"

Molly and Owen turned around and saw Chase standing behind them, his usual blue apron tied around his waist along with his usual look that said "don't bother me".

"Oh, uh, Owen just told me you were the chef here and I, well I didn't know," Molly said, blushing. It was always awkward when you got caught talking about another person, although her statement wasn't necessarily a lie. He was an unsociable person.

"Right. Well, I'm here to take your order, so what do you want?" he said, taking out a small pad to write on.

"I'll take the lasagna," said Owen. "And a wheat cocktail."

Chase nodded and turned to Molly, pen waiting.

"I'll, uh take the chicken flatbread personal pizza and a glass of water, please."

"Just water? Come on, Molly, it's no fun when I drink alone," Owen said, slapping her back.

Molly flew forward a couple of inches and shot him a glare. "I can't, I'm not twenty-one yet."

Both Owen and Chase stared at her, as if they didn't quite believe her.

"You're not?" asked Owen.

"No, I'm still twenty. My birthday is July 7th, so I still have three months. Why, how old are you guys? You can't be much older, right?" she asked. They looked about the same age, Owen maybe a bit older but it could just be his bulk that made him seem that way.

"I'm twenty-four," said Owen, grinning. "And Chase here is twenty-three, right Chase?"

Chase just nodded.

"Well, three or four years isn't that much older," Molly said a bit defensively.

"Just enough to make me able to drink and you not," Owen said, laughing.

"I don't care, alcohol isn't even good anyways," Molly rebutted.

"Oh, so you have drank?" Owen said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well…when I was a kid I snuck a sip from my dad's beer can and that was nasty and…er, I had a sip of champagne at New Year's last year," Molly said reluctantly. She knew most people her age had either gone through that stage or are still into that party-hard lifestyle but she was never really attracted to it. There was a time, earlier in high school when she thought about it but after watching her friends succumb to peer pressure one by one and get into all sorts of trouble, she vowed to stay away from any sort of alcohol until she was old enough.

"That's so funny, so you're a good kid then?" Owen teased.

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Molly said in a low voice.

"Naw, it's fine, it's fine. Just doesn't seem very exciting," Owen said, shrugging.

"Some people don't find being drunk everyday very appealing," Chase said, still standing behind them.

Molly had almost forgotten that he was still behind them.

"There's nothing wrong with enjoying a drink after the end of a hard day's work," Owen shot back.

"Maybe if you actually did your work every day," Chase said, snapping his writing pad shut.

"What do you know about – ," Owen started, but was cut off by Molly putting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a hard look.

"Well, we're pretty hungry so maybe we should stop here and let Chase get back to work," Molly said, directing it at the both of them. Now she knew why Owen and Chase didn't talk that much.

Chase _hmphed_, shrugged and walked back to the kitchen, Owen glaring at him the entire way.

"Did you hear what he said?" Owen asked, like she wasn't sitting by him the whole time and heard the whole thing.

"Yeah. Chase…is pretty rude," Molly said. It wasn't the best thing to go around accusing people of being an alcoholic. She didn't know Owen very well, so maybe he is, but even if he was, there are more delicate ways of saying it.

"He's always been like that, I don't know why!"

"Some people are just like that, just ignore it. What he said wasn't true, right? So forget about it," Molly said, trying to calm him down.

"No! I do my work just like everyone else and…well I do have a drink every night but only like a shot glass full, nothing more. I don't get drunk," said Owen, defending himself.

"Hmmm," Molly said, pausing and wondering if she should say something about that. "Well, Owen…it's fine that you drink, but every night? Even if it is just a shot glass full," she said, seeing that he was about to say something back.

"Aw, come on, I'm young, I can handle it," Owen said, waving her off.

"I just don't think you should make it a habit," she said, simply.

Owen shrugged and they talked about lighter things until Kathy came over with their food.

Setting the food down on their table, she looked up and said a short "Here's your food" before she walked away, her shoulders tense.

"Uh, what was that?" Molly asked Owen as she started on her pizza.

"Whut wush whut?" Owen said through a mouthful of lasagna.

"Kathy looked like she was angry."

"Oh," Owen said, swallowing. "She's probably angry at me; I went over when she was at Horn Ranch and unhooked the harness so she fell sideways when she mounted her horse."

"Why'd you do that?" Molly asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Cause I like her," he simply replied.

"What?" Molly said, snorting. "Are you in fifth grade or something?"

"I just think she's cute when she's angry," he said, smiling.

"That's another thing you shouldn't make a habit of," Molly said, rolling her eyes. Men.

"I know, I know. But, I'm fine for now, I like just being friends. When she's ready, I'll get serious."

Molly didn't know if he was thinking about it seriously or if he just liked teasing her but she figured everybody does things their own ways so she wouldn't worry about it.

"Is your taking me here just another way of upsetting her?" Molly asked, catching Kathy glancing in their direction again.

"Hm? No, I just wanted to get to know you more. And anyways, if it annoyed her that would mean that she actually liked me," Owen said, sighing and looking at Kathy as she cleaned off some tables.

"Well, she keeps looking over here like she's jealous, so I wouldn't leave out that option."

"No, no, she's just trying to make me feel bad about the other day," Owen said.

Molly just shrugged. "If you say so."

They ate the rest of their meal and paid the check, leaving the small bar and, after declining his offer to walk her home saying she still had stuff to do in town, went over to the lighthouse to find Finn.

She found him sitting on the white bench directly beside the tall lighthouse, a dull white due to its age.

"Finn!" she called out, crossing the small rope bridge that led to the small island the structure was on.

"Molly!" he called back, waving.

"Sorry I took so long. Did you find it?" she apologized.

"It's okay; it wasn't too long and yeah! Its right over there," he said pointing to a small round stone in the ground that was glowing faintly.

"Great! Do you have his bell?" she asked. Their plan was that, if he found the stone, Finn would fly back to the house and bring it here.

"Sure do, here you go," said Finn, handing her the bell.

Molly stood over the stone and watched as the bell absorbed the moonlight and turned a brighter yellow.

"Only one more stone to find!" said Finn, waving his arms around in excitement.

Molly smiled. "Yup! Now, let's go back and get some sleep, I have to get up early tomorrow."

Finn agreed and they headed back to her house, Molly sharing what had transpired in the bar during her dinner with Owen. Finn seemed to agree with her thoughts on Kathy's feelings towards Owen and they had a fun time imagining what their kids would be like if they got married.

Eventually they went to bed after Molly took a shower and changed into her pajamas. Thankfully, she went to bed before eleven so she was able to get a decent night's sleep before she had to wake up early the next morning for her fishing trip with Toby and his family.

Packing the tuna sandwiches along with the cucumber and cream cheese rolls she prepared the day before, Molly hurry up and got ready, rushing out the door just in time to make it to the dock at 6 o'clock.

"Molly!" Toby called out, waving her over to their boat, floating next to the dock. Ozzie and Paolo were already on board, getting ready to cast off.

"Sorry, am I late?" she asked, slightly out of breath.

"No, you're right on time, they're just excited to get out there," Toby said.

"Oh, good," she said relieved. She hated being late. Toby and she got on the boat and after a greeting to the other two; they untied the rope holding the boat to land and started the motor, heading out on the calm morning ocean.

Toby showed her the rod she'd be using and where the worms were and told her a bit about where they were going. Apparently they were fishing for yellowtail today and those were most abundant near Toucan Island, an island South of Castanet with a totally different climate.

Before he could go into depth about anything else though, Molly got the sandwiches out of her bag and handed them to him.

"You didn't tell me to bring anything but I figured we'd get hungry out here so I brought some different types of sandwiches."

"Wow, they look great Molly, you didn't have to do that," Toby said, putting them in a cooler. Paolo looked over and repeated the sentiments followed by a hearty "Thank you!" from Ozzie.

"Oh, and before I forget…Happy Birthday!" she said, bringing out a small cake she made last night before she went to bed. It was a simple raspberry flavored cake with vanilla frosting with the words "Happy Birthday Toby!" on the front in green letters.

"You baked this?" Toby said, beaming as he took the cake from her.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind, I don't really have much money to buy anything right now," Molly said, a bit shy. She thought she was a good baker but she did have doubts that bringing a handmade cake might be a bit over the top.

"Oh no, I like this much better. Thank you so much, Molly, I love it. I'm so happy," he said, sounding truly appreciative.

"It's not that much! Really…"

"Come on now Molly, just say you're welcome or we'll be here all day, you both being so humble and all," said Ozzie from the wheel.

They both smiled bashfully and Molly said a quiet "You're welcome" while Paolo tugged on Toby's clothes to get a better look at the cake.

They spent a nice morning fishing around Toucan Island and Molly learned a bunch of fishing tricks from Toby, she even caught a few big ones herself. Of course Ozzie and Toby caught the most, Paolo just behind them in count. She didn't think she would like fishing that much but being with the three of them made it really fun. As they talked, Molly learned that Toby had been working with Ozzie as a fisherman since he was thirteen, his parents coming out to visit once a year. When Ozzie was helping Paolo reel in a fish, Toby told Molly that Paolo's mother had died during childbirth. She had had a weak body and at that time it was only Irene running the clinic and they didn't have the necessary equipment to save her.

"I'm…really sorry to hear that," Molly said, looking over at Paolo jumping up and down in excitement about his catch.

Toby looked over at him too, a sad look on his face. "Yeah…I was younger then but I still remember my aunt. She was a great person, even though she got sick easily, she would always do what she could to help out around the house. Being a fisherman is a job with a lot of danger and you have to be strong and know what you're doing. She was like the morning to my uncle. When they were together he could always relax and wind down from work…she was a kind person and died much too early."

Molly looked down at her hands, folded in her lap. She could understand. Bryant, Angela's husband was a great person too and he didn't deserve to die at such a young age…

She wondered how Ozzie handled her death and how he can be so happy now when the person he loves is no longer here. This made her think again of Angela, and how strong she was to get up and make a new life for herself.

"Ozzie…is a strong man," she said, almost to herself.

Toby looked at her for awhile and nodded. "Yes. He is."

They both sighed, each one lost in their own reverie before Paolo popped over with his catch, so excited that he almost hit Molly in the head with it.

"Woah there Paolo, careful, or you'll knock off Molly's head," said Ozzie, chuckling and taking the fish from Paolo's hands, putting it into the fish box built into the side of the boat.

"Sorry, Molly. But did you see that, Toby? It's my biggest fish yet!"

"I saw it. You're getting to be a great fisherman, Paolo. Ozzie and me'll have to watch out or you'll get ahead of us," Toby said, ruffling Paolo's hair.

"Molly is pretty good too, for it just being her first time," Paolo said, turning to face her.

"Oh, no I'm just trying not to look like a fool haha. I don't mind if I don't catch any fish, I'd much rather you guys get what you need to."

"We have plenty of fish at home, this was just a leisurely trip to celebrate Toby's birthday and of course to get to know you better," Ozzie said, taking everyone's poles and putting them safely away for the trip back.

"Yeah, we're so glad you could make it," said Toby, giving her a gentle smile.

She smiled back and blushed a little. She really liked this family, and was glad she decided to come along too. Saying so, they all said they liked spending time with her too and after having her sandwiches and cake for lunch, headed back to Castanet. Even though she had told Toby at first that she would come, she actually debated whether she would or not for a few days. She didn't like boats, especially not one's smaller than a ferry, they could capsize or something and they would all end up in the water and then who knows what would happen. But, Toby had mentioned that they had been using the boat for years and they haven't had an accident yet so, in the end, she went against her good sense and went along. After awhile they made it back to the island.

"Thanks for teaching me how to fish, I had a really great time," Molly said, letting Toby help her off of the boat and safely onto the dock.

"Thanks for coming. You should come again, Paolo seems to really like you," he said, referring to Paolo coming over to show Molly every fish that he had caught that morning.

"He's not the only one!" Ozzie shouted from the boat.

Toby blushed scarlet. "My uncle is always trying to embarrass me."

"Embarrass you? You embarrass yourself, I was talking about me," Ozzie said, laughing.

Toby rolled his eyes but his blush stayed. Molly laughed a bit awkwardly, not really sure what to say.

"Oh right," Toby said, going back to the boat and pulling out the fishing pole she had used. "This is for you."

Molly's eyes widened, she didn't know much about fishing but she did know that poles usually didn't come cheap.

"That's not right, it's your birthday, you're the one supposed to be getting presents, not giving them," she said.

"It's fine, after all, you made me a cake so now I need to return the favor," Toby said, holding out the rod for her to take.

She took it hesitantly and beamed. "Thank you Toby, it's really generous of you."

Toby just shrugged and looked away bashfully. Molly chuckled; he was so quiet and shy.

"Well, I had a really good day. I'll see you later, alright?"

Toby smiled and said goodbye and Molly waved to Ozzie and Paolo before heading back to her house, a couple of fish in a small cooler, already skinned and prepared for cooking thanks to Ozzie.

She got back to her house, checked on her animals and went in. Finn welcomed her warmly and she fixed them both some baked yellowtail.

"How was your day Molly? Did you like fishing?" Finn asked, taking a big bite of fish.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was really great."

Finn smiled, pleased that she had a good day and they finished their dinner, going to bed.

Molly lay awake for a little while reflecting on the last couple of days and thinking about the villagers she was slowly getting to know. Toby and his family was by far the easiest to talk to and she thought she could get to be friends with Owen and Luke too, even though she was a bit worried that Kathy thought she wanted to date Owen. She'd have to clear that up soon. Thinking about last night at the bar, Molly was convinced that Chase was more rude than anything else but…looking back, his statement wasn't nice, but in a way he was defending her lifestyle. Or maybe she was just over-analyzing it.

There was one thing Molly was sure of though; she wasn't going to be bored.

* * *

**AU:**

**Woo! I'm so glad I got this done before the weekend! I don't have much to say, so I hope you like it and don't forget to review! (: Thanks~**


	8. Chapter 8 Belief

**Chapter 8**

**Belief**

Some people say it's easy

Some people say it's hard

To live in this small world

Without a God

Some people go forever

Not knowing what it's like

To feel a love that is boundless

Keep them safe throughout the night

And then there are others

That have known, that have believed

But turned around and left behind

A sense of tranquility

And still there are others

That are true, that hold fast

Keep their faith in their hearts

Keep their mistakes in the past

But it does not matter

To which group you belong

Because the Goddess will still protect you

And take you in Her arms

* * *

"So, how do you like it? Are the people nice? What about your farm? Oh! Are there any cute boys? Goddess knows you need to date _someone_."

Angela's energetic voice came through over the new land phone Molly had purchased for her house the day before from Barbara's general store.

"I like it, it's really a great place Ang and the people are great too. My farm…well it's coming along. I've been keeping busy with it, I'm sure you know how much work it is to keep one up," Molly said, holding the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she made herself breakfast. It was early Saturday morning and, since her trip with Toby, Finn and she had found the last moonstone successfully restoring Collin's power. As for its stand, they knew it was behind Craig and Ruth's farm, however, Craig wouldn't unlock the gate to let them through for some unknown reason, so Molly was taking Ruth's advice and growing crops for them to sell to get on Craig's good side. Why Craig didn't like her, Molly didn't know but she wasn't going to let it bother her too much; apparently Craig didn't like a lot of people.

"Yeah, do I ever. Do you know how long it took me to grow crops here? I barely got anything good out of the first season, but then again, I didn't know anything. You were always the one to help Grandpa out at the farm, not me. But, Molly, you didn't say anything about the boys! Come on, I know you're not completely alone out there, there has to be some guys your own age, right?" said Angela. Molly could practically see her sister waving her arms around in frustration. That was Angela for you; it was always about the boys.

"Yes, there are other guys around my age here. I don't know if they're cute, I guess they are. But it doesn't matter, Ang, I won't date any of them," Molly said, sighing.

"Why not? It'd be perfect!"

"How, exactly?" Molly asked.

"Well, they live there and you do too. See, if you had met anyone back home, who knows if they would've moved out to such a remote island and started a farm with you? Since they're already there, there isn't a problem of them leaving. And you don't plan on leaving either, do you?" Angela said.

Molly smiled. Even though they were so different, she had to admit that Angela really knew her well. She hadn't told her mom when she'd moved out to Castanet how long she had planned on staying there, but since the beginning she knew it would be longer than just a couple of years. Her plans were reinforced when she realized how nice it was on Castanet. As for her family and friends; well, they could always come visit and vice versa.

"No, I don't plan on leaving. But, just because they live here too doesn't mean anything," Molly replied.

"What is with you and boys? It's like you have a grudge against the entire male sex."

Molly hadn't voiced her opinion and hesitancy about men and love with anyone other than her best friend from college so she couldn't really tell Angela she wasn't going to marry without having to explain her reasoning. It was also hard to discuss it with her because Angela was part of the reason she felt that way, with Bryant passing away and all. No, she didn't want Angela to think it was part of her fault, since Molly knew she would.

"I don't have a grudge, really. Although, most of them are players and perverts," Molly said.

"Now, that's not true. You haven't even dated anyone so how would you really know? Take Bryant for example, he was great."

Molly didn't reply for a couple of seconds, a bit shocked that Angela had actually mentioned her late husband. Ever since the incident, Angela hadn't mentioned him to anyone at all and had put away all of their pictures and anything related to him inside a large box that she kept in their closet back at the house.

Molly cleared her throat before saying that Bryant was one of few.

"Plus," Angela said, getting quieter, "there are a lot of nice boys where I live too."

Molly smiled, hearing a hint of embarrassment in her sister's voice. "Oh?"

"W-well, yeah, I mean I've been here awhile so I know people better and, well, I mean, everyone is nice here so…"

"Okay, okay. If you don't want to talk about them right now, I understand, but I'll be expecting stories the next time you call, okay?" Molly said, laughing at her sister.

Angela didn't reply for a couple of seconds and when she did her voice was low and worried.

"Molly? You…do you think it's wrong for me to love another person after Bryant?"

"No. It's not wrong at all. You're still young Ang, and you have your entire life ahead of you. Bryant would understand, I know it. Like you've said, he was a man amongst men. He wouldn't want you to be alone forever…and anyways Ang, you never were one to enjoy solitude," Molly said, trying to lighten up the conversation.

Angela laughed and agreed. Then, after a few more minutes of conversation they hung up, promising to call each other next week too.

"Your sister sounds nice!" Finn said, coming to help set the table.

"Yeah, she is. A bit loud, but it's always good to have a loud person in your life," Molly said, smiling.

Finn nodded his head in agreement and together they ate breakfast. Then, Molly checked her garden and, gathering the vegetables that looked good, put them in her rucksack and headed to Marimba farm to try and persuade Craig to let them in the back.

Opening the door, a bell chimed signaling their entrance and Ruth turned around from behind the register giving them a tired smile.

"Hi Ruth. We've got more crops for you guys. Is Craig in the house?"

"No, he's out in the back. Here, I'll unlock the gate for you so you can give him the vegetables. I don't care if gets mad. I don't know what you want to do with that stand but I don't see why he won't let you in, not after the help you've given us," said Ruth, leading Molly out to the back of the house.

They entered the fields after Ruth unlocked the gate and soon after saw a small path leading to an area separate from everything else. They were just about to enter the clearing when they heard a man's voice talking quietly.

Molly and Finn walked slowly forward, ducking down to try and keep hidden and saw Craig kneeling in front of the bell stand.

"Please, Harvest Goddess, can't you make our fields healthy again? I feel like I'm failing my family, everything is going to ruin. If you don't help us soon, we might have to leave. Why have you abandoned us? I…I know I haven't prayed to you much lately but can't you forgive us? Please…"

After a few seconds Craig pounded his fist into the ground and let out a grunt of frustration.

"Fine! Fine, if you won't help us then forget it! Why should I pray to a thing I don't even know exists, especially if it doesn't do anything! Where's the proof? Just…just forget it!" Craig shouted at the stand and got up, brushing his clothes off and turning around only to see Molly staring at him from the entrance.

"You!" he said, pointing hysterically and getting red in the face. "Spying I see? How'd you get back here? Trespassing too, eh?"

"No! Your wife let me through and I…I wasn't spying. At least, I didn't mean to," Molly said, standing her ground. She wasn't going to let Craig push her around again.

"Ruth did? Why that good-for-nothing…"

"You shouldn't say that about your wife," said Molly angrily. Craig spluttered, his ears getting red, but before he could say anything else Molly continued. "And you were asking for proof, right? Well, the proof is all around you. The ground, the sky, the ocean, the animals, everything is here because of the Harvest Goddess. You're wondering why she hasn't helped restore your lands back to the way they once were? Well, maybe if you weren't doubting her power and blaming her for everything then she would have the power to do it! But now…unless everyone believes and prays together, who knows what will happen? If anyone should be blamed for the island's state it's the people that live here, the people, like yourself, that have forgotten about the Harvest Goddess and all of the work she does to keep your lives simple and peaceful!"

Molly was breathing hard and glaring at Craig, she hadn't meant to go off like that but he needed a wake-up call and she was the only one who would do it.

Craig, on the other hand, was silent and staring at her with almost a look of amazement, like he couldn't believe she actually got angry at him.

"And you were the one who threw the bell into the ocean, aren't you?" Molly said, pulling the yellow bell out from her rucksack.

"What? H-how'd you know?"

"Well, I wasn't for sure, until just now when you told me."

Craig scowled and crossed his arms. "So what if I did?"

"Do you really think someone who throws this into the ocean deserves to be helped by the Goddess?" Molly asked him.

This seemed to have struck a chord with him because he grunted and looked away in guilt. Molly sighed. She knew he was stressed out and part of this negative energy came from that but there shouldn't be an excuse for abusing the bell nor the Goddess.

"I…I suppose you have a point," Craig said, begrudgingly. "But, I feel like my family has been blaming me for our slump and I didn't know what to do because praying wasn't helping and I just got angry and…"

Molly held her hand up for him to stop and nodded in understanding. "I know. And the Goddess knows, she'll forgive you. I promise the land will get healthy again and soon. Just believe in Her."

"How can you have so much faith when you've only been here for a couple of weeks?" Craig asked.

"Because I know she is real," Molly said simply. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bell to put back in place. Oh, and here," she said, handing him the vegetables she brought over. "To help you out."

Craig looked at her and took them from her arms, giving a small smile, the first one she'd seen him give since coming there.

"Thank you," he said quietly and walked back to his house.

"That was kind of scary, wasn't it?" Finn said, wringing his hands in stress.

Molly took a deep breath. Actually, she'd been shaking the entire time, but she was glad she said something. Hopefully now he'll think about his actions and maybe repent a little.

"Yeah, a little bit," she said, laughing shakily. "Now, let's ring this bell."

They put Collin's bell back on the stand and he popped out, ready to do his service. He played his song and Molly could hear the voice of the earth in it as it spread out across the island, healing the soil and bringing nutrition back to the land.

"Thank you Collin!" Molly and Finn said together.

"No problem! Thank you for getting me back here! To show my gratitude I'll let you see my next stand-up performance for free!" Collin said, flashing a thumbs up sign.

"Uh, sure. That'd be…awesome," Molly said, not making eye contact.

"Of course! Well, until next time!" he said, disappearing back into his bell.

She looked at Finn and took his hands swinging him around. "Only three more to go!"

Finn laughed and together they went back home to plant some more seeds.

A few mornings later Molly walked out of her house only to find the mayor standing to the side of her front door.

"W-woah! Mayor Hamilton!?" Molly said in surprise, taking a step back and knocking her back up against the door.

"Hello there Molly, good morning. Sorry if I startled you, I was just about to knock on the door," he said cheerfully, bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet.

"Oh, no…uh, it's alright. What can I do for you?

"Well, I just thought I'd stop by and tell you about the Flower Festival coming up. Since you're new you probably don't know about it, right?"

"No, haven't heard about it," Molly said.

"Fantastic!" said Hamilton, clapping his hands together.

Molly didn't know what was so "fantastic" about not knowing about the festival but suspected that the mayor was just happy about having an excuse to talk more.

"You see, the flower festival is a festival held every year on April 14th and the town comes together to admire the beautiful cherry blossoms. It's held at the church grounds and it officially starts at four but people will be in and out all day. If you have someone special, you should bring them," he said, giving her a wink.

Molly smiled back uncomfortably. "Oh, it sounds nice."

"Yes, yes. It'll be smaller this year because not everyone is back on the island but it'll still be a great deal of fun. You should go Molly, even if it's just for a few minutes."

Molly looked at his bright smile and inwardly sighed. How could she refuse someone that so clearly wanted her to just go and have fun?

"Alright, I'll stop by for a little while."

Hamilton clapped his hands together again and smiled. "Great! That's great. I'm glad, it'll be even more fun with you there Molly."

"Oh, uh, well I don't know about that but…," Molly said, laughing awkwardly.

"Nonsense, everyone will be happy to see you. By the way, are you finding things okay?"

"Oh, yes. It's hard work but I'm enjoying it. And everyone is so nice…really, this place is great," she said.

Hamilton nodded his head pleased and said goodbye, walking back to take care of his mayoral duties.

Molly watched him go and then proceeded to take care of her animals and water the crops. It was noon before she came back in the house and Finn had a sandwich ready for her on the table.

"Aw Finn you made this for me?" she asked, sitting down at the table.

"Yup! You've been working so hard lately I thought I'd do something to help you out…even though it's just making you food. And it's only a sandwich…maybe I should go spy on Chase to get some cooking tips."

"Oh Finn, this is fine, thanks. But if you go hang around Chase for too long you'll adopt his grumpy personality and I'd rather have a happy Finn than a grumpy one, even you could make some great mushroom ravioli," said Molly, eating her lunch.

Finn laughed and agreed, sitting down to eat with her.

"So, the flower festival is in a couple days, right? We're going, right!?"

"Yeah…I guess. Even though I was kind of forced into it."

"Aw, Molly, it'll be a blast! I haven't been to any festivals yet so I'm really excited."

"You haven't?" asked Molly.

"No, we harvest sprites don't really go to any festivals…and anyways, technically I'm only three months old."

"Hmmm," she said, contemplating it. She did think it would be weird if they went to a festival where no one could even see them. Besides the wizard the Goddess had mentioned before, but then again she hadn't even seen him yet so he probably wouldn't be at a festival anyways.

"But it's okay, because now I'll get to go to all of the festivals with you!" Finn said happily.

Molly swallowed a piece of her sandwich and looked away. Here was yet another source that was forcing her to be social. She didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Angela had always told her to get out there more but Molly didn't like always being busy and always talking to someone. But, if she was planning to stay here for, well for however long, then she'd better make friends with everyone. Of course she wanted to make friends but going places by herself was always nerve racking, no matter how many times she's had to.

"Yeah, yeah," she just said, finishing her sandwich and getting her hammer out from her toolbox.

"We going mining?" Finn asked.

"Mhmm, the farm is free of weeds and the animals are taken care of so…"

"No fishing?"

"No, not today," she said. Lately, ever since Toby gave her a fishing rod, she'd been taking a little time each day to go improve her skills but fishing took up a lot of time and didn't always bring about a big profit so to make a bit more money she needed to go mining.

"Can we visit the Harvest Goddess on our way up?" asked Finn.

"Of course, we'll stop by there before we go in."

"Yay!" Finn said, spinning around. Molly laughed as always, Finn was forever happy.

Climbing up the mountain that never failed to leave her calves burning, Molly made her way up to the Garmon Mine district. As she crossed the bridge, pausing to admire the only waterfall on the island, she noticed that Bo and Luke were outside of their house talking.

Coming near enough so that they heard her voice she called out to them and waved. They waved back and Luke motioned for her to come over.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she said joining them.

"Just talking about the flower festival this Saturday. It's one of the few calmer festivals that Luke can actually stand," said Bo, grinning at his friend and brother-figure.

"So I like flowers, is that bad?" Luke said, grinning back. "Naw, it's just that events like the firefly festival and the starry night festival are so boringgggg. At least with the flower festival it's guaranteed that Owen will get tipsy and make a fool of himself in front of Kathy."

"Oh, no…I take it this is a yearly occurrence?" Molly asked.

Bo and Luke laughed together. Bo composed himself first and said that it's been happening for four years now.

"Oh, Owen…" Molly said, sighing.

Bo nodded in understanding. Luke just snorted.

"Yeah, he doesn't really know how to win a girl over," Luke said, nodding his head.

"And you do?" Molly said, disbelieving. She bet that Luke's idea of a date was a chopping wood contest in fugue forest.

"'Course I do."

"What do you know about women Luke? You've never even been off this island so it's not like you've had a girlfriend," Bo said.

"Hey!" Luke said blushing and hitting Bo's arm. Bo flinched and rubbed his arm, frowning a little.

Luke glanced at Molly and then quickly looked away, clearing his throat.

"I'll have you know that there have been many tourist girls that have been interested in this guy right here," he said, pointing at himself with his thumbs.

Molly smiled and rolled her eyes. If they were attracted to him it would have been because he has the body of a swimsuit model. Luke was attractive, she had to admit that, but he joked around so much that she couldn't take him seriously.

"What you don't believe me?" Luke said, pretending to be angry.

"Er, no…I do," Molly said, trying, and failing, to not smile.

"Can you believe her Bo?" Luke said, turning to his younger friend. "Molly doesn't think I can be charming."

"I heard it. Molly clearly doesn't know what a gentleman you can be," Bo said sarcastically.

Luke, not noticing the sarcasm, kept nodding his head.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay Molly, I'll prove it to you."

"Huh?" Molly said, suddenly apprehensive.

"Yeah. Come to the flower festival with me and I'll show you how much of a catch I am," Luke said.

"Uhhhhhhhh." Molly looked at Bo for help but Bo just smiled and shrugged.

"Come on Molly, what's the problem?" said Luke, giving her puppy dog eyes.

Molly crossed her arms. "Why does it have to be me? Can't you just prove it by taking someone else?"

"Nope. It has to be you since you're the one that doubted me," Luke said, smiling and grabbing her shoulders lightly. "Come on, you know it'll be fun," he said, shaking her back and forth.

After ten seconds of this Molly yielded and threw up her hands. "Okay, okay fine. I'll go with you, but it's not a real date, okay? I'm just going to observe you."

"Yes! Alright! It's gonna be so AWESOME!" Luke said, pumping his fist in the air.

Bo laughed and Molly couldn't help but crack a smile.

"But just so you know," Molly said, interrupting his celebration, "you'd better bring your A-game because I'm really hard to impress."

Luke just smiled and accepted the challenge. "See you Saturday then," he said, raising his eyebrows and giving her what she figured was supposed to be a seductive look but just made him seem like he was pretending to be Donald Trump.

She rolled her eyes again and waved goodbye, walking down the path to say hi to the Harvest Goddess with Finn before going in the mines.

"Things got interesting, huh?" Finn said, rocking back and forth on her shoulder.

"Yeah…a lot more than I expected to have to deal with for this festival," she said.

"Are you troubled?" Finn asked. He had noticed that when it came to strangers, especially guys, Molly tended to pull herself back. He didn't know why, and it wasn't always noticeable, but he was always around her so he saw things that others probably wouldn't. Sprites loved but they didn't love in the same way that humans did for the people they wanted to date so he didn't understand but he did understand that Molly was scared of love. Finn thought this was sad, because love was a great thing and everyone deserves to be loved and to love someone but he didn't know how to help her.

"Maybe a little…but it's Luke, so I don't think I need to worry," Molly said.

"Worry about what?" Finn asked.

Molly's eyes widened for a second before shrugging and looking away. "Uh, worry about being quiet. If I go with Luke then he'll want to talk with everyone and be everywhere. At least the mayor will be happy seeing me interact with everyone; Luke will probably make sure there's not a dull moment."

"Hm," said Finn, squinting at her.

"What?"

"Nothing," Finn said, flying off of her shoulder and going to greet the Harvest Goddess.

Molly thought it was weird for Finn to be secretive but she casted the thought aside as she went to the Harvest Goddess for a quick hug. Rather than worrying about her personal life, she just needed to focus on the quest for the bells and her farm and, hopefully, things would go her way. But one thing was for sure; she would be happy if the festival passed without any incidents.

* * *

**AU:**

**Hey guys! First off, thanks for reading, as always. I hope you enjoyed it and again, if you have any comments don't hesitate to tell me :)****  
Next chapter is the flower festival! Will Owen make a fool of himself again this year? Will Luke prove himself to be a stud? Stay tuned and find out in the next exciting chapter of Finding Life!  
….hmmm that just doesn't roll off of the tongue like Dragon Ball Z, does it? Oh well, haha. Anyways, the next chapter will be up soon and thanks again!**


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